


the champion's niece

by SorcorerSupreme



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Bad Spelling & Grammar, Bad Writing, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Friendship, Halo (F1), Halo controversy, Independence, Major Character Injury, Mercedes Junior, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2018-11-13 15:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11187975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorcorerSupreme/pseuds/SorcorerSupreme
Summary: ”Can I kiss you?”, he mumbles breathlessly and looks into my eyes.”Earn that kiss”, I return quietly, step back and smirk at him, ”prove me that you mean it.”× × × × × × × × × ×She grew up in his shadow. Always being compared to him, her uncle, the reigning five-times Formula One worldchampion.2018, they're fighting against each other on the track - rookie vs. five-times Formula One worldchampion, niece vs. uncle.Besides Formula One and the fights against her uncle, she has to deal with school, her twin brother, her younger uncle and love.Can she archive what Lewis Hamilton couldn't in 2007?How will she decide: love or racing? Family or love?





	1. o n e

**Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | Thursday**

”Why are you so calm?”, asks my uncle and sits down next to me, ”your first press conference is starting in less than minutes and you have the guts to eat some ice cream. I was literally peeing myself rig-” ”right before your first press conference, I know, we all know the story. Your father used that story to make us do things we didn't want to do.”

Quietly, he chuckles and ruffles through my hair. ”Please don't be that sassy during the press conference, I don't want the media to hate you on your first day.” Scoffing under my breath, I nod and roll my eyes. ”Promise me?” Damn, he knows me too well and I sigh. ”Do I really hav-” ”Charlotte, I'm serious. Do you promise me to not be sassy during your first press conference as a Formula One driver?”

”Okay, okay, I promise you to not be sassy during my first press conference as a Formula One driver even though it could probably save my arse.” He shakes his head, ruffles through my hair again and stands up. ”You're unbelievable, Charly.”

”Well thank you, I'll just take that as a compliment.” Cheekily, I smile at him and a guy comes out of the press room. ”Are you ready?”, he asks totally uninterested and Lance laughs slightly. ”Ready for the press conference with the reigning five-times Formula One worldchampion and his niece who's my teammate? Never”, he answer sarcastically and I playfully roll my eyes. ”Says one of the most controversial drivers ever, thanks mate.”

We're not best friends and we probably never will, but he respects me and I respect him and that's what matters. Also, we're probably one of the most controversial teams ever, so we have to stick together somehow, even if that means protecting each other from stupid journalists.

”You're welcome, Charly.” The guy scoffs and looks quite unamused. ”Get in. Now.” Quickly, my uncle stands up, grabs my hands and makes me follow him inside - he lets my hand go before a journalist can see us holding hands and I swallow. This is it. I can't run away now.

\---

**Q: Sebastian, let's start with you. How competitive is Ferrari this year? During the pre-season testing, it became obvious you have a quite competitive car this year, but both Williams and Verstappen were faster.**

**Sebastian VETTEL** : So far, we don't know anything. It's going to be exciting to find out where were are during qualifying and during the race. We tried to improve and to work on all areas , specially those we struggled with during the last season. The pace of Williams and Max surprised us a bit, but being the fastest one in the pre-season testing doesn't mean that much - lots of teams didn't show their full potential.

**Q: Last season, Mercedes have taken most of the pole positions. Did you address that and if you did, how? It's not a secret Mercedes has a go-faster engine setting for Q3, do you have one as well?**

**SV** : Not really. Sure, it's nice to start from pole position, but we can also win a race from P2, P3 or even P4. And in Monaco for example, that setting is completely useless. Here in Australia, it's a bit more important to start from pole or at least P2 for a chance to win the race and overtaking's difficult, but you can still play a bit with the strategy.

**Q: Lance, coming to you. It's your second year as a Formula One driver, you didn't finish the race last year. How do you deal with that? And do you agree with some other drivers who claim this year's cars are even more demanding than last year's?**

**Lance STROLL** : I did a lot of simulator work, I went through videos of last year's crash with my crew and I want to finish this race - hopefully in the top ten. Well ... I think it's probably a bit more demanding, but I'm not the right guy to answer that question.

 **Charlotte VETTEL** : According to Seb, it's more demanding because he complained about his neck like an old guy. Or at least more than usual.

**Q: You didn't have a real chance against your former teammate Felipe Massa. How do you think will things work out with your new teammate? Are there going to be teamorders and a Number One and a Number two driver? Or are you just going to race against each other?**

**LS** : We're both young and the most inexperienced team and that's why Felipe's still around to help us improving the car with his experience.  
We discussed it but decided against teamorders and against having a number one and a number two driver because we're both young and we're both just at the beginning of our Formula One career.

**Q: Charlotte, how do you prepare for your first Formula One Grand Prix? Did your uncle help you with the preparation? And how much pressure is put on you?**

**Charlotte VETTEL** : Actually, I didn't change my preparation routine that much, I just started earlier. We worked out at night because that's just way more better than doing it on your own, but besides that, no. Maybe after qualifying he'll say "you lost a lot of time in that turn", but that's it. But he helps me dealing with the pressure, telling me nobody expects me to win a race during this season. That's really motivating. I think I put lots of pressure on myself because I want to prove everyone one.

**Q: Is it true that your brother is your race engineer? Why didn't you pick a more experienced one?**

**CV** : Yeah, I chose him but he's not going to be my race engineer for the beginning of the season. I chose him because I can trust him and if he tells me to pit next lap, I believe him that this is the best option right now. Before, I had race engineers who ... well, it felt like they helped my teammates more than me and that's not how it's supposed to feel. And my brother has always been interested in the technical side of Formula One, so he started visiting more of Seb's and Fabian's races to learn as much as he could when I was done with my race engineer.

**Q: Lance and you surprised us with the two fastest laps during the pre-season testing. What do you think is possible for this season and what's possible for this race? Do you think Williams can fight for the championship this year?**

**CV** : Uh ... well, we had a good package in Barcelona, we didn't crash so we had a lot of time to improve the car during the testing. But we both know that circuit pretty well. It's too early to say what's possible for the season and it's difficult to say what to expect for the race, but having at least one car in the top ten could be realistic. More likely Lance. Yes, in Barcelona, the package, the circuit and I went along quite well, but this circuit is completely new to me, so reaching Q2 is my goal for qualifying.

_**QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR** _

**Q: Good afternoon, I want to wish us a good press conference and a good race weekend in general. This question is for all of you but specially to Sebastian. The rookies are becoming younger and younger and they are less experienced when they start their Formula One career, is this step right or should the talents gain more experience?**

**SV** : You can't race until you're 50 or 60 anymore, so we need young and fit drivers who can race for twenty or more years. And the age isn't everything, you know?

 **CV** : Yeah, I agree. Last summer, Toto called me and told me to think about skipping GP2 because I was leading the F3 championship back then as a rookie. So why not give young drivers a chance when they proved themselves?

 **LS** : Charly's 17 and I'm 19, so I think our point of view is quite clear. As Sebastian said, age isn't everything and people should keep that in mind.

 **CV** : In addition, Seb's the one who made me sign the contract because I thought I wasn't ready for that. And a week later, I got invited to a Pirelli testing and it felt really amazing and I was so in love with the speed and everything. Sure, some fans might not like the fact that underaged teenagers are driving Formula One car, but at least I have to have a guardian - aka Seb - around and I'm only allowed to work a certain amount of hours.

 **LS** : Really? Why?

 **CV** : That's how it works in Germany. But nobody exactly knows what's work and what's preparation, so ...

**Q: It's the second year with the new owner Liberty Media. That question was asked last year, but it's still interesting to hear - so what would be your top three wishes for Liberty Media?**

**SV** : A race in Germany.

 **CV** : A mind blowing race in Germany.

 **LS** : The Grand Prix in Montreal is really special to me and the circuits in Germany are really cool, so I would say a Grand Prix in Germany would be really cool.

 **CV** : And maybe an event where we can drive on the Nordschleife. Did that at the 24 hours of Nürburgring and damn, that was amazing.

 **SV** : Maybe scheduling the races that doing Indy or 24 hours of whatever is possible without skipping a race.

 **CV** : True, when the talks started last year after my first victory, Seb told me to do 24 hours of Nürburgring and Toto somehow made it possible. It was really nice and I would love to do it again or maybe Le Mans, but we have races on both weekends this year.

**Q: Talking about 24 hours of Nürburgring, you won there last year, Charlotte! How did you experience your first 24 hours race and how did it feel to win it?**

**CV** : Well, it was really amazing. Racing against my uncle who's a DTM driver and his Audi DTM team and winning - that was really mind blowing. When 8 laps were left, it started to rain and for some reasons, I was the only one of my team who managed to keep a good pace on the wet tyres for rain. I thought I was finished for the day when a crew member came in and told me to get ready, they would need their rain master to win. It was lots of luck, I guess, because we pitted earlier than everyone else and so we lost less time on the wet track. And the feeling of crossing the line as the winner was really incredible.

 **LS:** Remember that one time we raced against each other and it started to rain and suddenly you were right next to me?

 **CV** : Those were the good times, mate.

**Q: This question is for Sebastian. When do you think can we expect your niece to win and is she really a rain specialist?**

**SV** : Well I-

 **CV** : That's why I wanted to use my dad's surname, I have a name that isn't "your niece" and I'm actually way more than just his niece. After Sunday, I'm going to be the youngest Formula One driver ever.

 **SV** : She seemed to struggle less with keeping a good pace than others, so maybe she is a rain specialist, I don't know. And it depends on a lot of aspects when a victory can be expected - maybe she's going to surprise us all and win this year, maybe next year, maybe in t-

 **CV** : Nah, I don't think I can wait that long to prove every critic wrong.

**Q: Lance, you're now the experienced driver in your team. How do you think will things work out with Charlotte and do you think you can win a race this year?**

**LS** : I hope and I believe that things will work out well with her. As I said before, we're both young so we're just going to race against each other - no teamorders, no number one and number two driver. Maybe a victory is possible, maybe not, it's too early to say that.

 **CV** : Of course it is. We just have to keep improving the car and we have to wait for our chance to fight for a victory, but we're quite confident we can win.

 **LS** : We are?

 **CV** : If we don't, I have to clean my cousin's room, so yeah, we are confident we can win and we're going to win somehow. Stop laughing, Seb, _Wettschulden sind Ehrenschulden_. Sorry, I've got no clue how to translate that and it won't sound as cool as it sounds in German.

**Q: Charlotte, you seem to be really confident in you and in your team. But first of all, I would like to welcome you, you're the youngest Formula One driver ever. Why are you so confident?**

**CV** : Aww, thank you. Well, I could also do some sandbagging, but I don't think you would believe me. Also, we know we have a good car, so why shouldn't I say that? We just have to wait and see how good our car really is, but I don't doubt top ten is possible. And I always hated it, everyone claiming to not be the favourite and all those mind games. I know what I can do, I know what the car can do, so let's see what the car and I can do together.

 **SV** : It was probably a mistake to let her know most teams are afraid of what she and Lance can do.

 **CV** : It totally was, Seb. When some teams are afraid of our car, that means we did a good job. And when even he asks me how the hell I managed to be a second faster than him, that's kind of satisfying.

**Q: This question is for all of you again. Who's going to be on here on Saturday and who's going to be here on Sunday?**

**CV** : Uh ... a Mercedes driver, a Ferrari driver and another driver.

**Q: Maybe a Williams?**

**LS** : It would be cool, for sure, but I think that's too much to ask for.

 **SV** : Esteban and Checo were really strong last year, maybe one of them? I would obviously love to see Charly on the podium but that's definitely too much to ask for.

 **CV** : Maybe next year! You know what they say, the winner of the Australian Grand Prix has good chances of becoming a Formula One worldchampion.

 **SV** : We'll see, Charles, we'll see.

_[So according to Leo (dot org) „Wettschulden sind Ehrenschulden“ can be translated as “A true gentleman (or woman) honors debts, especially gambling debts.“]_


	2. t w o

**Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | Friday**

Just like yesterday, a crew member already waits for Sebastian and me to arrive so he can bring my bike and the obligatory helmet to a safe place. ”Good morning, Jacob”, I greet him and smile proudly because I remember his name. ”Good morning, Charlotte”, he returns politely before walking away with my bike and helmet.

”Alright, Charly, now it's becoming serious.” Playfully shocked, I gasp and he chuckles. ”Remember, use FP1 to get to know the track and use FP2 t-” ”Don't worry, I know what I have to do, Sebby. And yes, I read through the whole transcript of the briefing yesterday, I know where to park my car in case of an engine failure or something like that and I know what to do when a car in front of me slows down when it shouldn't.”

Sceptically, he looks at me and sighs. ”Alright, alright. Have fun, Charles, and enjoy your day, okay?” Quickly, he pulls me into a close hug and I chuckle. ”You too, Sebby.”

Slowly, he lets me go and I smile at him. ”It feels like yesterday when I met you and Alex for the first time and promised your mom I would not let one of you follow my path to Formula One. Wait, do you have your no-” ”Yes, I have my notebook and enough pens, my charger and the laminated piece of paper with all emergency numbers. And I also have my German and English book so I can do some homework - or not, we'll see."

Again, he pulls me into a hug and I slightly roll my eyes - sometimes, I'm glad he's so overprotective, for example when he caught my last boyfriend cheating on me with Fabian's girlfriend, but right now, it's just annoying. ”I'm going to be alright, I promise you. Plus I've got Alex and your dad in my garage so you have absolutely no reason to worry about me.”

Quietly, he sighs and nods. “See you later, alright?” Again, he nods and I smile at him before turning around and going to the Williams garage, to my garage. ”What took you so long?”, asks Alex when I throw my backpack onto the table in the very back and I chuckle. ”Well, I decided to join Sebastian and Antti and it was a mistake because our dear uncle can't stop but worry about me.”

Laughing, he ruffles through my hair and I slap his arm. ”Did you already do those maths exercises we have to do?” Because of all the traveling, the preparation and everything else that comes with Formula One, we go to a school where every student misses school at least once a month.  
It's quite expensive but it makes it possible for us to go to school when we're at home and to be homeschooled whenever we're abroad. This time, our teacher who normally travels with us is sick, so we just got tons of exercises to do until Wednesday. ”No, but I started with my German essay and the analysis we have to do in English yesterday.”

Scoffing, he shakes head and I smile at him. ”Hey, we both know you are better in Math and I'm better in German and English, so don't you even dare to think about complaining.” Jacob hands me some papers and when I look at him confused, he chuckles. ”We thought you might want to go through last year's data and the first two papers are the programm you and Lance are going to do today and tomorrow morning.”

”Thanks.” Politely, I smile at him and he nods before walking over to my crew. ”We should probably discuss this later and start going through this.”

So that's exactly what we're doing for the next fourty minutes. Together with Felipe and his former race engineer Rob, we go through every single lap and every single piece of data we have. In addition to that, Rob also shows me some videos of how Felipe used to drive on this circuit and reminds me of the useful information he told me during the track walk yesterday.

Then, I have to get changed while Rob and Alex have a talk from a former race engineer to a to-be race engineer. So I make my way to my small room and meet lots of people on my way. Fernando for example welcomes me in the name of the whole McLaren-Honda team while some stupid journalists try to shove their microphones between us.  
Kimi just gives me a nod and Pascal joins me on my walk to my room.

We met during ROC 2017 in Miami - it was Sebastian's present from my 16th birthday - and he asked me to visit Pascal and to stay with him on Sunday so he could win the Nation's Cup without having to worry about his fellow German. They're quite close and since I spend a lot of time with my uncle, I met him quite often during the last twelve months. For example at his party when he became the Formula One worldchampion for the fifth time or during the summer break to work out together - actually, they worked out and I sat on their backs as extra weight, but nobody has to know that.

”How is it going with Honda?”, I ask him and he chuckles slightly. ”Well, we're way faster than we were last year, it could be possible for Marcus or me to reach Q3, but we'll see.” Pascal seems happier than last year and that's all what matters. ”That's good to hear. But hey, at least you can fight for reaching Q3 now instead of trying to not be the last one to finish a race.” Shaking his head, he laughs and I smirk a bit. ”That's true, Charlotte. My room's over there - see you around.”

* * *

 

”How did your free practice session went? Could you do everything you wanted to?”, asks a journalist when I leave the Williams garage after the first free practice session to have lunch with my family and I mentally roll my eyes. ”Well, I didn't crash so that's a good thing.” Slightly, I chuckle and put on my sunglasses with a super cool move. ”We were able to do everything we wanted to and I spend seventy minutes on the track to get to know it better.”

Alex passes the group of journalists in front of our garage without any problems and smiles cheekily at me in a safe distance. ”Obviously, I didn't really care about the time because that's what's going to be important tomorrow. Today, we're doing longruns like every other team and after that, I have a briefing with my team to discuss possible setups, mistakes I did and everything.”

Another journalist shoves her microphone in my face and I sigh as quietly as possible. ”Does your team believe in you? They would be the only one to do so.” It hurts, it really does, but I just scoff under my breath and try to act cool. ”First of all, my family believes in me as well. And my dad's tribe probably believes in me as well even though they probably don't even know what I'm doing. I can't answer that question, but I think they wouldn't want me to drive for them if they didn't believe in me.”

”Ladies and Gentlemen, please let Charlotte go.” With a megaphone, Britta stands on a chair and I sigh in relief. ”It's her first race weekend and she has to attend an important meeting.” Quickly, the journalists step away and I literally run towards her. ”Thanks for saving me”, I mumble under my breath and she smiles weakly at me. ”No problem, Sebastian asked me to look for you because you didn't arrive at the meeting point.”

Because he wants to have lunch in peace, we have a meeting point where some bodyguards wait for us and accompany us to the VIP area without paparazzi and journalists. ”You could have said no.” Slightly, she shakes her head and chuckles. ”You know I would never say no to him when it comes to one of you.”

I know Britta for almost ten years now and she became an unofficial family member during that time. She was invited to Sebastian's and Hanna's wedding, the christening of their girls, to Fabian's first drive in his Audi and to my first Formula experience. ”But it's not your job to protect us, it's your job to protect him from the media.” One of her closest friends, Laura, is going to be my press agent starting with the Chinese Grand Prix, but she couldn't come this weekend, so Britta unofficially keeps an eye on me as well.

”It might not be my job, but nobody can stop me from doing it. Now let's talk about something niece. Did your car feel as amazing as it felt during the pre-season testing?” When she mentions my car, I beam and she smiles. ”Sebastian used to beam as well whenever someone mentioned his car at the very beginning of his career.”

”It felt even better. Maybe it was because I don't know the track so I don't know how many mistakes I did, but it felt really amazing. If we finish the longruns early, I can even try to do some fast laps today - in case of a crash, my team would have more time to repair my car.” Gently, she pats my back and the security in front of the VIP area without paparazzi and stupid journalists let us in when they recognise her.

”Charly, you won't crash. You did some amazing savings last year and nobody cares if you brake too early or too late. It's your first Formula One Grand Prix ever, nobody's going to judge you.” She gives me a reassuring smile and waves at Sebastian who sits around the table with the rest of my family. ”But I want to prove them wrong as soon as possible.”

* * *

 

After the second free practice session, I climb out of my car, place everything neatly on the table in the back of the garage and tie my overall around my waist. ”Well done, Charles.” Alex pulls me into a close hug and I chuckle. ”Thanks, it felt really amazing. How fast was I?”

We really managed to finish the longruns early and I got to use the last fifteen minutes to do some fast laps. It was really demanding and I had to focus on every single detail, but it was really awesome. I could do it again right now. ”In FP2, you did the fastest lap and you did the third fastest lap overall today. Sebastian and Kimi were both faster than you, but gurl, for you first two free practice sessions, that was bloody amazing!”

He lets me go and I look at him, utterly suprised and shocked. ”Third fastest lap today? Are you kidding me?” Rob joins our conversation and we high five. ”He isn't kidding at all. You did an really amazing job - specially considering this is your first Grand Prix weekend and you didn't know the track before.”

I can't believe it. I really managed to do the third fastest lap? I was faster than Lewis, Valteri and co? ”Thanks, guess I did enough simulator work to already have a feeling for the track.” Chuckling, he shakes his head and takes of his headphones. ”No, Charly, you can't do that much simulator work to have a feeling for a track, that's undeniable talent.”

Before I can protest, Sebastian and Fabian enter the garage and my younger uncle runs towards me, picks me up and pulls me as close as possible. ”What the hell, Charles? Faster than both Mercs? How did you do that?” Suddenly, it's completely silent - nobody wants to talk about Lance's and my data while a driver from another team is in our garage. ”Dude, I have absolutely no clue. I just focused on every single detail and it worked somehow?”

Sebastian laughs and when his younger brother lets me down, he hugs me as well. ”Well done, Charles. Now I have to worry about my own niece stealing the pole position if I don't do a perfect lap.”

Eyes rolling, I look at him and he smiles proudly. ”Seb, _please_. That was luck and I had a completely free track because you all were boring and didn't come out again. Tomorrow, that's going to be completely different and Merc's going to be faster, they are always way faster during qualifying.”

* * *

 

After dinner with my family, Alex and I make our way back to the garage to work out setups for qualifying and the race and to go though my data together. Everyone's so hyped about my lap even though it means absolutely nothing - but nobody wants to hear that.

”Charles, it might mean nothing but you showed the team what they could reach. Last year really sucked and now, one of their cars did the third fastest lap. It means a lot to them and we're all really proud of you.”


	3. t h r e e

**Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | Saturday**

It's 6 am when Alex and I enter the Williams garage - it was his idea, not mine. ”So tell me again, _why_ we're here one hour before the briefing starts?” Yawning, I sit on a table and watch him taking his laptop out of his backpack, placing it on the table right next to me and opening some files. ”Because we're going through your data so you're prepared for the briefing.”

Groaning, I look at him and roll my eyes slightly. ”And why couldn't we go through my data in my bed?” He's a morning person, I'm not and he tends to forget that quite often. ”Because you would have fallen asleep sooner or later if we had gone through your data in your bed.” That even makes sense, but I still don't like this at all. ”And why do I have to be prepared for the briefing?”

Normally, I have nothing against being prepared for a briefing, but I really struggle with the different sleeping rhythm - even though Sebastian and I tried to adapt this sleeping rhythm for around a month. Last night, I slept for three to four hours and then he woke me up and dragged me to the circuit.

”Oh c'mon, Charles, I even got you an Afri Cola.” Surprised, I glare at him and he smirks while taking the bottle out of his backpack. ”You know I'm not allowed to drink that, right?” Quietly, he chuckles and hands me the bottle. ”Do you really think I would just hand you one of the most sinful drinks of the universe without getting an okay first?”

Again, he has a point and I just scoff under my breath. ”You should have done it the other way around.” While he looks through the data, I drink as much as I can at once, close the bottle and hide it under the sweater I left here yesterday. ”That's now my emergency drink in case I get tired before qualifying or the race.”

Then, I jump down, stretch myself a bit and place my head on his shoulder. ”Then let's go through my data, brother dear.”

When Jacob and the rest of my crew arrive at the garage, Alex and I are still going through my data since we need to figure a setup out which is going to work for qualifying as well as the race. ”Why are you guys already here?”, asks Claire and I chuckle slightly. ”Data.”

\---

We agreed on two possible setups and I'm going to try out both to figure out which one works better for me. Two minutes until the last free practice session begins and I'm already strapped into my seat, waiting for the signal of Alex to finally drive out.

Some engineers take off the display which was placed on my car and I take a few deep breaths. A few seconds are left and when my twin brother gives me the sign I waited for, I quickly leave the garage as well as the pit lane and speed up.

Right after Turn 2, I overtake a Ferrari - more likely, my uncle's Ferrari - and wave at him while speeding up. Braking hard for the 90° right harder, sighing in relief when I don't lose control for a millisecond over the car like I did yesterday in FP1.

Sebastian overtakes me after Turn 5 and waves back. ”Charles, this is not a race. Focus on your programm”, warns Alex me over the team radio and I quietly scoff under my breath. They both know I love to race against someone else - doesn't matter if it's free practice, qualifying or race.

Turn eleven and twelve - double corner and fastest turns of the track. Downshifting after turn eleven, being pushed to the right but don't lose focus. Quickly speeding up after then twelve, Sebastian brakes to early for them thirteen and I overtake him again.

Right before turns fifteen and sixteen, he's right behind me. Don't brake too late into turn fifteen because it would mess up then sixteen. My car's stable when I'm on the brakes and off-throttle and I feel quite comfortable, so the setup should work for this weekend.  
Tricky exit of turn sixteen and it's difficult to stay in control of the car, but it works.

Of course he overtakes me again on the straight and I follow him closely. ”Charlotte, you can't keep up with him. Follow your programm and not him.” This time it's Rob and I scoff under my breath again. ”The pace is good. How should I be able to race when I never got to drive in top speed?”, I return and speed up a bit earlier than he does at the exit of turn two.

For a few more laps, we fight against other even though I'm not sure if he's driving in top speed or if he just slows down a bit to give the fans a show. Most of the time, I just follow him, try to stay in his slipstream and maybe learn a thing or two from how he races here. It's fun, speeding up as much as I can to be next to him on the straight, overtaking him right before turn one because he brakes there earlier than I do and trying to stop him from overtaking me after turn five.

”Okay, Charles, box next lap. Box next lap.” Eyes rolling, I press the confirm button on my steering wheel and curse under my breath when I brake too late for turn 3. ”Damn.” Again, he overtakes me and I follow him as fast as I can. That was a - according to Sebastian - typical rookie mistake and I hate it. I hate that I didn't manage to find the right braking point this time. ”Are you alright?”

”Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. We definitely need to go through this lap again, it just didn't feel right at all.” Sebastian slows down after turn 5 and I chuckle, he knows how frustrated I am after such a rookie mistake and he probably just wants me to feel better by overtaking him - and it totally works. ”Just bring the car back to the box in one piece, please.”

Quickly, I speed up to my absolute top speed, brake slightly for turn six and chuckle at my brother's worry. ”That can be arranged, brother dear.”

So at the end of the lap, I brake early and drive the car back to the box in one piece. Someone unfastens the seatbelts for me and Alex offers me his hand to climb out of the car. ”At least we got lots of data to go through now.”

\---

I didn't feel that comfortable with the second setup, so we obviously agreed on the first one. It's lunch break and I should probably eat something before my first Formula One qualifying ever, but I have way more important stuff to do. According to the data I collected in all three free practice sessions and the pre-season testing, we could still be faster and we still could have a higher top speed than we have now.

Instead of sitting in the Williams hospitality and enjoying some food, I sit in a sticky conference room with engineers of both teams and listen to them discussing several setup improvements.

It's been half an hour since I got to breath in fresh air and I'm low-key hungry. “Guys”, I say and stand up, ”we can't test your ideas of how to improve the setup. Qualifying is in one and a half hour and I don't know about you, but I really need to get some food into my stomach before I climb into my car. Who can guarantee his improvement is going to work?”

Nobody moves and I sigh. ”Thought so. We have a good car, we have a good pace and I don't want to risk that in the first race. Shanghai's in two weeks, we can try out your ideas in the simulator and the best setup improvements can be tested then. It's the beginning of the season, we don't have to risk something yet.”

My stomach growls and Claire nods. ”I agree with you, Charlotte, we are competitive car and we shouldn't rush things at the first race. Thanks for your ideas, you've got two to three days to work on them. Good appetite everyone.” In relief I sigh and together with Alex, I make my way to the Williams hospitality for lunch.

\---

**Qualifying results:**

1\. Räikkönen (1:23:506)  
2\. S. Vettel (1:23:508)  
3\. Hamilton (1:23:600)  
4\. Bottas (1:23:630)  
5\. Verstappen (1:23:749)  
6\. Ricciardo (1:23:801)  
7\. Hülkenberg (1:24:067)  
8\. Sainz Junior (1:24:102)  
9\. Kyvat (1:24:305)  
10\. Stroll (1:24:673)  
11\. Ocon (1:24:804)  
12\. Perez (1:25:096)  
13\. Vandoorne (1:25:508)  
14\. Alonso (1:25:802)  
15\. Palmer (1:26:000)  
16\. Magnussen (1:26:324)  
17\. C. Vettel (1:26:593)  
18\. Grosjean (1:26:868)  
19\. Wehrlein (1:29:862)  
20\. Ericsson (1:29:961)

\---

”What the hell did happen with my car?”, I ask as soon as I'm rid off everything, have my overall tied around my waist and the bottle of Afri Cola in my hands. ”In FP3, it felt amazing. Awesome. During Q1, it felt aweful. The car didn't feel right, I had oversteering and I couldn't get the temperature of my tyres right - which was no problem during FP3.”

Alex discretely leaves the garage and I shake my head in disbelief. ”Charlotte, can I talk to you for a second in private?”, asks Rob and I have an aweful feeling when I nod and follow him to the conference room we had the briefing in earlier.

”After Lance, his race engineer, Alexander and you left, we agreed on improving your setup netherless. He got one improvement, you got another one. They both really made sense and we had a really good feeling with both improvements. I'm sorry it didn't work out well for you.”

In utter disbelief, I stare at him and I swear to God, I never felt that betrayed in my life before. ”So you guys literally decided to betray your drivers and just improve or fuck up the setup without their consent. For God's sake, you saw how good we were in FP3! There was no fucking reason to change the damn setup, specially after the briefing!” 

He sighs and I chuckle bitter, I really can't believe this is actually happening. ”You have to understand our point, the dat-” ”When you ignore my opinion, why should I try to understand yours? I did some 1:24:010 laps earlier today, I could have reached the top ten!”

Angrily, I storm out of the conference room and groan when I see Britta giving me the sign to follow her to do some interviews while Sebastian's still at the post-qualifying press conference.

”What happened with your car?”, she asks quietly on our way to the media pen and I could cry in frustration and anger right now. ”They decided to improve my setup without my consent. Lance's improvement helped him reaching top ten while they absolutely messed up the improvement for my setup and now I have the honour of driving my first Formula One Grand Prix ever with a car I couldn't even really control during my out lap.”

\---

”What happened with your car?”  
\- ”They improved the setup and it didn't work.”  
”They?”  
\- ”Yeah, they didn't told me about that until after the qualifying.”  
”How frustrated are you?”  
\- ”Really frustrated. I could have reached top ten without that 'improvement' but that's racing. Shanghai's hopefully going to be better.”  
”What about tomorrow's race?  
\- ”I just hope I can finish it somehow.”  
”Your uncle's P-”  
\- ”He did a good job and he deserves to be on P2. I don't really have a favourite, but it would be cool to see him or Kimi winning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opinions anyone?  
>  _[Kudos/comments are always welcomed.] ___


	4. f o u r

**Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | Sunday**

Today should be one of the most exciting days in my life. But it isn't. It isn't because I know today's race will be difficult for me, really difficult. And I don't really look forward to it. Sebastian wasn't that amused about how I talked to the media yesterday and of course, he had to let me know. We argued and at one point, he just stormed out of my hotel room.

So my first race day couldn't start worse. This time, I decided to drive to the circuit with my team. Most of them felt sorry for the desicion they did without me because they have seen the potential the car had with the setup I wanted to keep.

But like my uncle says, that's racing and I have to deal with the desicion my team made. And I have to make the best out of it.

That's why I am already at the circuit when it opens it doors, I have to find a way how to deal with that aweful setup. Together with my crew - without Alex because he's also pissed at me for what I said at the interviews, but with Rob - I sit in the damn conference room and we go through every single detail of the setup. We go through my Qualifying laps and even though we don't understand the whole setup, I know a thing or two I have to take care of during the race.

When we're done, Lance and Alex still aren't here. At least for my twin brother, that's not typical at all. He's usually one of those guys who always arrives before everyone else arrives and leaves after everyone else is already gone.

I grab my cap and want to leave the garage when Britta shows up. ”Hey Charly, some journalists would like to do an interview with you, about your family and everything.” Quietly, I groan and nod. ”Alright, let's do this.”

* * *

Q: Yesterday, you complained about your setup. Were you able to understand it better?

CV: I hope so, yeah. We went through yesterday's data and through the setup and we think we found stuff I have to take care off during the race. The tyres for example, I couldn't warm them up like I should yesterday, so I have to try out another warming up strategy.

Q: Your twin brother is non-white, you are. How can you explain that?

CV: Well, our father is a South African, he's non-white. Our mom's white.

Q: Isn't it weird, having a twin brother who's non-white?

CV: You should ask him if it's weird to have a twin sister who's white. It's not weird for me at all because I grew up with him and his skin color and I really don't care about it. He's my brother and that's all what matters to me.

Q: Your father belongs to the Zulu tribe. How much do you know about his tribe's culture?

CV: Since Alex and I spend the first seven years of our lives with his tribe, I'm quite familiar with its culture.

Q: Why did you move to Germany?

CV: Our mother wanted us to have a good education and of course it was Seb's first full Formula One season.

Q: How close are you and your uncle?

CV: Uhm ... quite close I think. We share the same passion and he kind of took me under his wings. He always took me to meetings so I always knew that Formula One isn't just racing.

Q: Why did you decide to become a Mercedes Junior?

CV: Because I want to do this on my own. At RedBull, most of the crew worked with him and it would have been weird, working together with them. And I would have to deal with even more comparisons. Since he's driving for Ferrari, I didn't want to join their Junior Programm for several reasons.

Q: So you became a Mercedes Junior because it was the only team he doesn't have a connection to?

CV: Not really. We talked about it, we discussed it with Maurizio, Christian and Toto. They all wanted me in their Junior Programm, but I didn't want to follow his exact footsteps. RedBull wasn't really an option for me because they have their four drivers. I know for sure Seb won't leave Ferrari and Kimi wants to stay as long as they let him ... so it only made sense for me to join the Mercedes Junior Programm.

* * *

Driver's Parade. _Finally_. Together with Pascal, I get on the truck and wave at the fans. ”Maybe we're going to fight against each other.” Quietly, he chuckles and I shrug. ”We'll see.” He was probably warned about me being not so enthusiastic about the race since he doesn't seem to be surprised about my reaction at all. ”Maybe your car just works better during the race, we had the same problem last year.”

Weakly, I nod and Sebastian joins us with a huge smile plastered on his face. ”Nico and I thought about dinner next Saturday, what do you guys think?” I have absolutely no idea who started this tradition, but it's a tradition for all German Formula One drivers to meet after the first race of the season and have lunch or dinner together. ”Sure, but I'm going to have lots of stuff to do for school, so I won't stay that long.”

Pascal just nods and my uncle claps his hands in excitement. ”Great, we can try out the Weber barbecue my family got me for Christmas. Just send me your diet plan so I can make sure you don't cheat on a non-cheating day.”

Quietly, I chuckle and playfully slap him. “Stop parenting us, Seb.” Luckily, an interviewer shows up before he can explain me for the millionth time that he promised my mom to take care of me and that's why he can't stop parenting me. ”Can I borrow the two Vettels for a sec?”, she asks and Pascal rolls his eyes when she isn't looking. ”Of course.”

Quietly, I sigh under my breath and wave at the fans while Pascal and Nico leave us and the lady alone. ”Sebastian, it's your first race together with Charlotte. How special is this race to you? Can we expect a fight even though she doesn't seem happy with the car?” Why does everyone asks so stupid questions, isn't this boring for them?

”Of course it's really special to me and it's really nice to share the passion for racing with her. We'll see, this circuit is known for less overtaking, but with some safety cars, everything could change.” Proudly, he smiles at me and I just nod, I really don't understand how he can be that optimistic about my race. ”Yeah, we'll see”, I say and try to seem as optimistic as Sebastian actually is - but by the look he gives me, I fail miserably.

”Thank you and good luck to the both of you.” In relief, I sigh when she turns around and my uncle kisses my forehead. ”You're going to be alright.” Weakly, I nod and he chuckles. ”I know this sounds impossible because it's your first race and I can tell you're nervous, but try to enjoy it. As soon as you're in your car, the nervousness is going to disappear.”

* * *

It's 1:50 pm. It's almost time. _Almost_. Currently, I stand next to my car and watch the mechanics do their job. ”Nervous?”, asks Alex and I scoff under my breath. ”My hands are shaking, mate.” Laughing, he ruffles through my hair and I roll my eyes at him. ”I'm serious, man.” Just when I want to show him my shaking hands, Kai comes towards us and I decide to let it be.

”Charlotte! Are you like your uncle or ca-” ”Of course you can ask me something.” Politely, I smile and take a few deep breaths. ”Are you nervous?” Alex chuckles in the background and I slap him slightly. ”Yeah, but I think it's going be alright as soon as I get into the car.”

”Do you think you can play an important part in the outcome of this race?” It's almost time for the national anthem, so I have to walk to the very front of the grid and he follows me. ”My goal is to finish the race. It would be cool to worry the strategy guys from Merc, Ferrari and RedBull but I'm going to focus on my own race.”

Quickly, Kai thanks me for taking the time to answer his questions and I join my fellow drivers. Stoffel's on my left - we had some really interesting conversations at the driver's briefing - and Fernando's on my right, so you could probably say I'm in a McSandwich. I chuckle at my own pun and earn a critical look from one of the Pirelli guys. Oh right, the national anthem.

For the rest of the anthem, I try to not even move - bit I fail miserably, I'm just not the person who can stand still - and sigh in relief when it's finally over. My legs are slightly shaking and I feel like passing out any second. I just want to sit in my car and drive for God's sake. ”Good luck, Charlotte”, mumbles Fernando while we make our way back to our cars and I smile nervously at him. ”Thank you and good luck for you as well.”

After putting everything expect my gloves in, I climb into my car and someone fastens the seatbelts. This is it. There's no turning back now. Someone puts my steering wheel into its rightful position and Alex hands me my gloves. Normally, he shouldn't be there but I asked him to be here, at least for today, for my first Formula One race ever.

Gently, he pats my shoulder for wishing me good luck and then, the installation lap starts. Sebastian was right, the moment my car moves, all the nervousness is gone. Like it had never been there at all. Thanks to the team's hard work over the night, the car really feels better than yesterday. It feels like I understand more of what's going on and specially of what's not working like it should.

So we park the cars again and I can feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. This is it. This is what I am here for. The lights turn red and I can't suppress a small smile when the lights go off and the race has officially started.

I have a quite good start, I manage to overtake Joylon, Kevin and Fernando on the straight and Stoffel brakes too late for turn one, so I overtake him as well. ”Well done, Charly. Good start, really good start.” Mentally, I roll my eyes at my brother, I can tell this was a good start. ”Keep your head down, the Force Indias in front of you are going to have a team intern fight, so just wait for a mistake to overtake both.”

In my rear mirror, I see Stoffel slowing down and I immediately feel bad for him, he already had a rough 2017 season and now his 2018 season starts where last year ended. ”Vandoorne is out, engine failure, I repeat, Vandoorne is out.” Well, that explains a lot. ”Please let him know I'm sorry”, I return and chuckle to myself when I cross the line. Lap one is done, fifty-seven to go.

Suddenly, right after turn five, my screen goes black and I slightly shake my head. _No_. No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. This can't be true. Not now. Not me. ”Come on, don't let me down”, I mumble but I know what this means. My race is over. ”Battery failure or something like that, I'm sorry guys. You did a great job.”

I unfasten my seatbelt, take my steering wheel off and climb out of my car. Damn it. After I put the steering wheel back in its rightful position, I politely decline the offer to drive me back to the pitlane and start walking back to the Williams garage on my own.

This is the only free time I'm going to have for a few hours, so I better use it because the next hours are going to be full with interviews, briefings and other stupid things. This is how my first Formula One race ever ended. Being let alone by the goddamn engine, great.

”Hey.” In surprise, I wince and turn around. ”Hey, shouldn't you be back at the garage?” Quietly, Stoffel chuckles and smiles weakly at me. ”No, I didn't want to face my team or the media right now and it seems like I'm not the only one.” Lying would be useless, so I just nod. ”Fernando told me to go jogging for a bit before going back to calm down, wanna try a Formula One worldchampion's method of how to deal with the frustration of retirement out?”

Usually, I would say no, but I really don't feel like facing other people right now, so I nod again and he smiles again. ”Cool. Meet you in ten at the paddock entrance? I'll ask my race engineer for some more private routes.” Instead of nodding for the third time, I smile weakly at him. ”You better get some more private routes because I would like to finish this season.” Confused, he looks at me and I sigh. ”What do you mean?”

”I had to sign some papers that I am not going to have any kind of relationship with a fellow driver. So if they find proof or at least claim they have proof and I don't have a absolutely logical explanation for that proof, I have to leave.”


	5. f i v e

**Munich | Wednesday**

@CharlotteSV: airport → pre-school jogging through Munich at 6 am → school → post-school jogging in the nature → Skype briefing while doing homework → BED

@CharlotteSV: no I am totally not tired and I'm really excited for school, I can't wait to finally see all those idiots again, yay!

On my way to school, I quickly upload a photo of me and Alex jogging through the city centre of Munich on Instagram and caption it with _”No, Charly, you can't sleep now or you'll be even more tired at school. Why don't we go jogging through the city? - Thanks for the sore muscles, bro.”._

Somewhy, jogging with Alex isn't as nice as it used to be. Maybe because jogging with Stoffel is way more interesting because well ... he's a Formula One driver as well, he has way more experience than I have and I don't reget jogging with him on Sunday. Not at all. Britta was pissed because I didn't tell her about it, but I felt way better afterwards and I was way calmer during the conversations and discussions with my team.

Kimi won the race, followed by Valteri and Sebastian. My uncle and Lewis had a collision in lap 3 and while the Briton damaged his front wing which meant a way longer pit stop for him, he had to take care of his tyres so he couldn't really fight against Valteri until lap fifty-five.

”Charles?” Yawning, I look up and Alex chuckles. ”Please don't fall asleep in the subway, you can sleep during lunch break if you want.” Well, no, I can't, I have a short Skype briefing with Claire during lunch and I promised Hanna to call the girls. ”Nah, but maybe I can sleep while you have PE. Obviously, I did lots of sport over the weekend and he still can grade my start.” People give us weird looks, but by now, I don't care. Even if I wanted to care, I would be way too tired for caring right now.

”You can't always do that.” Eyes rolling, I look at him, of course I can always do that. ”Mate, just because you can't skip PE that doesn't mean I can't skip PE as well.” Cheekily, I smile and he scoffs under his breath - because of the special system our class has, it is possible to skip PE if you can give your teacher something to grade instead of the period you're missing. ”Don't we start with the new topic today? And isn't that new topic yours?”

Oh my god, yes it is. ”But how should we start motorsports withou- oh my god, we're doing theory today. Finally.” The last topics were football, athletics and tennis and we both didn't really like it. But now that the topic is motorsports, we are the pros of the class and that's just amazing. ”Maybe I can skip English instead, I obviously talked a lot English as well and the press conference should be on YouTube right now.”

In excitement for PE, we leave the subway at the next station and walk the last few metres to our school. ”Hey guys!” Jason waits in front of the main entrance like always and smiles at us. ”Hey, did you miss us?” Smirking, I hug him and he laughs. ”Of course I did. Mister Lange wanted to begin with the new topic yesterday but realised you both weren't there, so we analysed your uncle's race instead - and your start. I'm really sorry you couldn't finish the race.”

Surprised, I look at him and sigh dramatically. ”So the one time I am not there, you finally analyse a race? For God's sake, I begged him for years and he always said _”wait for your topic and we can discuss it”_. Not fair, really not fair.”

They both just chuckle and together, we make our way inside. ”Maybe he would do it again if you got pole position or finished a race on the podium”, comments my brother and I clap my hands. ”Then you know what we have to do, brother dear.” Lots of students watch us carefully and I just roll my eyes. ”Okay, I definitely didn't miss this.“ Even though here are a lot of kids of important people, of politics, of company owners and so on and so on, Alex and I are always eyed sceptically and carefully.

“You just want to get a pole position or finish on a podium so we have to analyse it in class?“ In disbelief, Jason shakes his head and I scoff. “No, that's just a nice side effect - I really need to prove myself before summer break or people will never shut up.“ Slightly worried, my best friend eyes me and Alex is busy with his phone. “Charly, don't li-“ “Don't listen to your critics, blablabla, I know. But I still care what people think of me.“

When the bell rings, we enter the classroom and I gasp when I see a little trophy standing on my desk. “Since you couldn't finish the race ...“, explains Horst, one of the idiots I usually just want to slap really hard and he smiles weakly at me. “And you organised trophies for us when we lost the final, so we thought it's time to give you some motivation“, adds Andrea who lost the U18 Eurocup final last year.

Truth is, Alex had a huge crush on Laura, the goalkeeper of the U18 national team and he made me do this, but they don't need to know that. ”Oh my god, that's so cute, thank you so much guys!” Our math teacher enters the room and Jason, Alex and I quickly sit down. Something's engraved in the bottom of the trophy - _”you're our #1 driver, Charlotte”_ it says and I can't help but smile. ”Good morning, class. Miss Vettel, put that thing away or I have to confiscate it.”

Eyes rolling, I take the trophy, place it on the ground next to my back and take my maths stuff out. ”Today, I'm going to grade your homework and you're going to work in small groups on some exercises.” Alex and I share a panicked look, we forgot to do the damn maths homework.

* * *

”God, I hate Mister Müller so much”, I groan when we're finally out of the school building and sit down under a tree - our usual spot. ”At least he didn't give you an D for the period just because you forgot your homework.” Alex sighs and sits down next to me - Mister Müller tends to be really strict with my brother even though he's the best in maths. ”You should have chosen maths advanced course instead of German, man.”

Jason laughs at my brother's expression and I look at my trophy. ”Guys, I really can't wait for PE. This is going to be legend - wait for it - dary.” In excitement, I beam and my best friend ruffles through my hair. ”You're so adorable when you're excited for something? And now, tell me everything about the weekend. How was it? Were the other drivers nice to you or do I have to slap someone? How did it go with Lance? Were the journalists nice to you? What did you so after you climbed out of the car?”

I tell him everything. I tell him about the driver's briefing, the discussions Stoffel and I had, I tell him about the press conference and how reliefed I was that they didn't ask that much stupid question and I tell him about the practice sessions. I tell him about how good my car felt in the last free practice session on Sunday and how betrayed I felt after qualifying. How much better the car felt during the installation lap and how Stoffel and I went jogging after the disappointment of retirement.

* * *

PE. _Finally_. With a huge smile plastered on my face, I enter the room and sit down in the front row. I waited so long for this day, for the day we start with the new topic _'motorsports'_ and it's finally happening. Jason and Alex follow me and I smile at them when they sit down on my left after right side, knowing that my twin brother and I won't sit that long. Smiling, I place the trophy on my table and beam slightly in pride. This is a really amazing day.

”Good morning, class”, says Mister Lange and enters the room, ”it's good to have you back, Alexander and Charlotte - the next race is going to be better.” Synchronic, we nod and he smiles at us and takes his notebook out of his bag. ”Alright, guys, you all know how it works. The two of you come to the front and the rest of you asks questions. Remember, it's all about the sport.”

So I follow my brother and while Mr. Lange sits down on Alex' place with his notebook, we sit down on the teacher's desk. ”When did you start karting, Charly? And when did you decide to become a race engineer, Alex?”, asks Horst and I chuckle at the memories. ”When I was seven, one of Fabian's friends celebrated his birthday at a karting track and it was one of my first days without Alex, so my granddad made him bring me along and that's actually how it all started.“

We are not allowed to talk about our career expect when it's the topic at class. We also have some musicians, actors and singers who have their topic in music or drama class.

”Oh, I just had to spend my weekends at the karting tracks netherless, so I started to watch the crew and it actually interested me. Then I started visiting more and more races of Sebastian and also of Fabian and Rocky once asked me if I wanted to become a race engineer like him.” Our mom didn't want him to become a - or more likely my - race engineer, but Sebastian and our granddad helped us with making her agree. ”He took me under his wings and that's how I started becoming a race engineer.”

”How did your family think of you karting, Charly? Did they support you or did they want to stop you because you're a girl?” Laura knows what she's talking about, she still has arguments about her football career with her family. ”Well, 2007 was the year Sebastian had his first Formula One Grand Prix and he promised my mom to talk me out of it. One hour later, he left my room with sponsors who would support me. My mom was and still is quite critical, but she accepts it.”

”How does it work? What does a Formula One driver needs to know? Did you also have to learn about the technical side or is it the race engineer's duty to make the technical side of racing more understandable for the driver?” Andrea looks really confused and Alex can't help but chuckle quietly. ”Well, as a driver you have to deal with the technical side of racing a lot. You have to keep in mind what could be not working if your front tyres don't warm up like they should and stuff like that.”

My brother scoffs under his breath and ruffles through my hair before answering. ”A driver has to briefly know the most important things about the technical side, but most drivers know more because it makes the communication with the team easier.“ Or because your twin brother decides to become a race engineer himself and he analyses every race we watch together.

“You took part in the 24 hours of Nürburgring Last year, didn't you Charly? Did you ask a team if you could join them or did a team ask you?“ Jason probably just asked because he knows how overwhelming and fascinating the whole experience of 24 hours of Nürburgring was for me, but I really don't care right now.

“Toto asked me in November of 2016 if I wanted to do something crazy and I said yes. Then he told me that one of the Merc teams still needed a fourth driver and they thought about me. Somehow, I got permission for it and it was really amazing. Racing against my uncle's Audi team, being on the podium with him, it was an amazing experience.“ Alex fakes a cough and I chuckle. “Of course I also had the best race engineer to-be on my side.“

Some more questions are asked and then Mr. Lange tells Alex to sit down again. “We're going to watch some laps of your third free practice session and I would like you to explain us what exactly you're doing there, Charlotte.“ Smiling, I nod - I'm quite sure we're going to watch the fun battle Sebastian and I had and I still can't believe we actually did it.

When he starts the video, Alex dramatically sighs and I smirk. It's the onboard footage of my car, overtaking a Ferrari right after turn 2, waving at my uncle and speeding up before braking hard for the 90° right harder. “Okay, so Sebastian was in front of me and I think he was on an outlap because he was too slow for my liking. So I overtook him and because I felt really comfortable in my car, I waved at him. You can see how I upshift here and speed up.“

My brother rolls my eyes at me and my teacher just nods. “Sebastian overtakes me after turn five, I think I braked a bit too early so I made it easier for him to overtake me there. Turn eleven and twelve are the fastest turns of the track and it's a double corner, so you really need to stay focused. After turn eleven, you have to downshifting and you're pushed to the right of the track and you have to speed up directly after turn twelve.“

Everyone seems totally interested and I chuckle slightly to myself. “He braked too early, so he gave me the perfect opportunity to overtake him again. Turn fifteen and sixteen are really tricky. If you brake too late into turn fifteen, it messed up turn sixteen which has a tricky exit as well because it's slightly difficult to stay in control of the car.“

It's shown how Sebastian overtakes me on the straight and I scoff under my breath. “My pace was good, but not as good as his pace, so he overtook me without any problems. At the exit of turn two, I speeded up a bit earlier than he did and we were side by side before I let him go before turn three and followed him closely.“

Maximilian, the guy I had a crush on for years, raises his hand and I swallow. “Yeah, Max?“ His and Jason's fathers are celebrity photographers, so my best friend knows him quite well and that's also why I never got closer to Max than the usual smalltalk at school.

“How long and how often do you have to work out?“ Confused, I look at him and shrug. “I do some basic work out every day and neck torture four to six times a week. My basic workout contains pre-school and post-school jogging as well as two hours of bike riding every day and some weight training.“

* * *

“Finally.“ Jason chuckles when we leave the school building and I am too tired to slap him, so I let him be for once. “Do you guys want to come over or are you two too tired?“ Instead of answering, I just yawn and take my phone out of my pocket. “I think Charly really needs to catch up some sleep but I can come over.“

So they say goodbye to me at the subway station and Alex tells me to not expect him at our place before 10 pm - that's when Jason's mother comes home and friendly kicks her son's guests out.

The subway is quite empty so it isn't a problem to find a free seat to sit down and I place the trophy on the free seat next to me. I unlock my phone and chuckle when I see that Stoffel send me a text.

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
Aren't you a bit too jetlagged for school?

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
Surprisingly, I wasn't that jetlagged at all.

 _ **To** : Claire_  
Can we do the briefing a bit later? I'm on my way home and I could really need a nap right now.

Without waiting for an answer, I close the messager and open the Twitter App. Quickly, I type something down, but before I can tweet it, the subway arrives at my station. I grab my bag, leave the subway as well as the station and walk the last few metres to Alex' and my small apartment.

Smiling, I unlock the front door and walk upstairs, unlock the door and sigh in relief. In one move, I close the door behind me and throw my bag into a corner. Being to tired to even undress, I make my way into my room, crash down on my bed and quickly tweet the Tweet before throwing my phone carelessly away and falling asleep in less than five minutes.

@CharlotteSV: nevermind, I'm too tired for Skype and homework, my bed's waiting for me


	6. s i x

**Munich | Friday**

We meet at a karting track for PE. Jason, Alex and I show up in racing gear while our classmates wear comfortable clothes and as soon as we enter the indoor track, I sigh happily. The unique smell of fuel and sweat is in the air and I take a few deep breaths. “God I missed this smell“, I mumble and place my helmet on the small table.

“Welcome, class. I hope you all remember yesterday's introduction of Alexander and Charlotte because today, it's becoming serious now.“ Mr. Lange chuckles and I beam in excitement. “Before you out your helmets on, they're going to explain the track.“

Smiling, I step forward and look at my quite unmotivated class. “We're going to do a track walk, we normally do it with our race engineer and some other crew members to get to know every single millimetre of the track. And Felipe usually joins my track walk at tracks I have never been at before because he has the experience I don't have yet.“

It's ridiculous, doing a track walk at a track I know by heart and that isn't difficult at all, but for most of my classmates, this is completely new and it should make it a bit easier for them. So we explain them every turn, when to brake and when to speed up and where to move if they are shown a blue flag. “Any questions?“, I ask when we're finished with the most professional track walk they world has ever seen and everyone shrugs or shakes heads. “Good, now you're going to be do an installation lap. It's usually to warm up the tyres and check it everything's working, but for you it's mainly a good chance to get to know the track.“

While Jason and Alex help the class with the helmets, I walk over to the finish line and grab the flags that are lying on the ground. I always wanted to wave flags and now I can finally do it.

“Because we don't have that much time, we're just going to do an installation lap and then ten minutes of racing“, explains Alex and our best friend helps him with his helmet. Jason's going to take photos of the race because he needs to practice for the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend, I'm going to wave the flags until my arms hurt and Alex's going to race with the class because he's the inexperienced driver of the three of us.

While Jason explains Mr. Lange how to start the go karts, I watch my brother zipping up my racing overall of the last year and smile at him. Alex never understood my fascination for racing itself and that didn't change after I met Jason at a race almost ten years ago and got along well with him from the very first second. He's the son of a worldwide known sports photographer and one of the best female opera singers on this earth right now and gave up karting when he was thirteen because he realised taking photos of me racing was more enjoyable for him than racing himself.

“Is everyone ready?“ Alex gives me a thumbs up and I nod at Jason as an okay for him and our PE teacher to start the go karts.

The installation lap is really slow, everyone is really careful and I can't help but chuckle at them. It's funny to see how careful you can drive around a corner and crash into the track barriers netherless.

* * *

From the karting track, we take the bus to the central station. Jason's aunt waits in front of the main entrance with our suitcases because we really have to catch this one goddamn train. If we miss this train, we would have to wait four hours near the Swiss border for the next train and we all don't want this. “We should get changed as soon as the train leaves“, suggests Alex when we leave the bus and I chuckle. “But I like walking around in my overall.“

Laughing, he ruffles through his hair and Jason's aunt greets us with a polite smile. “Have a good trip.“ Secretly, he rolls his eyes at his mother's sister and nods. “Thanks, Louise.“ Before it can become even more akward, her driver takes our bags and we have leave. We actually have to run to gate 12 and we almost come too late because Alex looses his suitcase every now and then on our way.

Slightly out of breath, we look for our seats - first class, of course. Sebastian always books first class for us, no matter what. And mostly, he makes sure to book one of those private seating areas so we aren't disturbed that often.

As soon as Alex closes the door behind himself, Jason undresses himself and I just scoff playfully under my breath. ”You don't have to change in the middle of the room, mate.” Just in his boxershorts, he turns around and smirks at me. ”Oh come on, Charly.” I laugh and take my phone out of my pocket. ”Jase, you better get dressed before someone walks in and thinks we're filming some porn.” Alex throws a sweater into his face and he just scoffs. ”You guys became really boring.”

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
What are you doing this weekend?

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
Staying at Seb's place with Alex and my best friend, Team Germany barbeque on Saturday, ... you?

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
I'll have a Team Belgium barbeque by myself :D Gonna visit the factory on Sunday and I have to mentally prepare myself for that

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
You could come, y'know. I mean ... you speak German and Nico could pick you up

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
Seriously? Are they alright with me showing up at your Team Germany BBQ?

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
It's just an excuse for Seb to finally use his Weber barbecue, so it should be alright. Plus Hanna, the girls, my mom, Alex and Jason will also be there so it's not really a Team Germany BBQ at all.

”With whom are you texting?” With an evil smile, Jason takes my phone and I just look at him, utterly suprised, instead of reacting properly. ”U-uh ... Stoffel”, I mumble and roll my eyes when his smile becomes even bigger and more creepier. ”Oh my god, how often are the two of you texting? You're texting more often with him than you're texting with me.” Overdramatically, he places his hand above his heart and looks hurt at me. ”Why do you text 24/7 with him and not with me? I have to say, I'm really disappointed in you, Charlotte.”

Eyes rolling, Alex takes my phone out of my best friend's hands and I sigh in relief. But then, he reads through our chat history and I really want to disappear. This is so akward and weird. ”He's not the right one for you.” In disbelief, I look at my brother and he sighs. ”Charly, I don't want you to have a boyfriend until you're ... fourty because I don't want you to get hurt. And I don't want you to risk your career for a guy you don't even know.” Is it really so obvious that I might like Stoffel a bit more than I should? Damn.

Quickly, he types something and hands me my phone.

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
I asked Seb and for some reasons he didn't agree. Idk man.

”That's not how I text with him! We both dislike all those shortcuts, are you serious Alex?” It's by a secret that he doesn't want me to have a boyfriend at all, but I never expected him to play all dirty in order to keep every potential boyfriend away. ”Exactly.”

Disappointed, I look at him, slightly shake my head and give Jason the same disappointed glare for not helping me. ”You both suck.”

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
Oh ... okay. I have an appointment in ten, text you later.

”Now he's pissed at me, thank you very much for nothing, Alex.” Fabian's missing because he's usually the one who is on my side when it comes to relationships and as long we're not eighteen and need our youngest uncle as our personal driver, Alex and I don't dare to piss him off. ”See, he's not the right guy. Your right guy would ask of everything was alright.”

* * *

The rest of the train ride was spend in complete silence. Jason knew better than to choose a side and my twin brother and I ignored each other. Stoffel didn't answer me even though he was online a few times and I know China's going to be really akward.

Finally, we arrive at the small train station and I'm the first one to leave the train. ”Charly!” Mathilda runs towards me, I drop my suitcase and pick her up. ”Hey Sweety, how are you?” Giggling, she puts her small arms around my neck and I gently kiss her forehead. ”Good! And you?” Emily sleeps on Sebastian's arm and we just nod at each other. ”I'm fine, thank you.”

Widely, she smiles and pats my shoulders. ”Your next ra- ... your next race will”, she pauses and bits her lip, ”your next race will be better, Charly.” Quietly, I chuckle and nod, I bet Hanna practiced it with her like always - or maybe it was Fabian this time. ”You're right, you know why my next race is going to be better? Because this time, I'll read your good luck card before the qualifying and not afterwards.”

Because she wants to stay like this, Fabian takes my suitcase and we leave the train station. ” _Papi_ , Charly's silly”, announces Mathilda as soon as we're outside and everyone laughs at her adorableness. ”Why is Charly silly, _Prinzessin_?” Hanna follows us with Alex and Jason - they have a lot to catch up, after all. ”She forget to read my good luck card before qualifying! That's so silly, _Papi_.”

Shocked, Sebastian gasps and shakes his head. ”Oh yes, _Prinzessin_ , that's really silly.“ Fabian rolls his eyes and I chuckle. “At least I know now what I did wrong.“ With a badass move, my younger uncle opens the door for me and I help Mathilda to get in her seat and fasten her seatbelt for her. “I have something for you from Australia, do you want it now or later?“

With huge puppy eyes, she looks at me and I smile at her. “Now, can I have it now, please?” Her father knows what I got her, so he opens my suitcase and hands me a princess crown with her name engraved. ”Here, Sweety.” She squeals and puts it on her head. ”Thank you, Charly!”

Alex and Jason drive home with Sebastian, Hanna and the girls while Fabian and I have the other car for ourselves. ”A princess crown, hm?” He chuckles and I gently slap his arm. ”She's the first karting princess of the world and a princess _needs_ a crown, duh.” My granddad got them an indoor kart as a present for his two younger grandchildren and Mathilda loves it. Emily isn't that sure about the kart, but maybe that's because the kart is barely free to use. ”Makes totally sense, Charly.”

I scoff and he laughs. ”Fabi, you just don't understand it because you will never be a princess. Don't be that jealous, man.” And all out of a sudden, my phone vibrates in my pocket. ”Me and jealous? I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm not jealous.” Smiling, I grab my phone, unlock it and open the messager.

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
I'm sorry, I just would love to ... you know, belong to a group. A group expect McFailure.

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
I'm sorry, my brother took my phone and wrote that message. I can ask Seb if you still want to join us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opinions, anyone? :)


	7. s e v e n

**Shanghai International Circuit | Thursday**

On our flight to China, Alex and I talked about the events of Friday's train ride so we're all good now - it's a huge relief for me because it's one mayor thing I don't have to worry about anymore. Laura's boyfriend grew up in the area of Shanghai and somehow she made him agree on being our driver and personal translator for this weekend.

Because of the Easter holidays that start on Monday, Jason was allowed to join us here in China and I'm really thankful for his parents to agree on letting him go. His mother only said yes because he only misses two days of school instead of at least five days. While my brother and I already flew to Shanghai on Sunday, he followed us yesterday straight after school.

”The press conference starts at 2 pm and you've got some promo to do later, so I suggest you to do the track walk and whatever else you need or want to do before”, Laura says and I nod smiling. ”That can be arranged, I guess.”

Quietly, she chuckles and Jason ruffles through my hair. ”Who's joining her at the press conference?”, he asks my press agent - I'm quite sure he has a crush on her - and I silently pray for her to remember my plead earlier and to not tell them. ”Max and ... Stoffel I think? That's a weird name by the way.”

My brother looks at me in disbelief and I sigh. ”Hey, I didn't choose him to join me. Plus you promised me to let me do my own mistakes and my own experiences with boys.”

Thankfully, we arrive at the circuit before he answers and I take a deep breath when Jason gets out of the car and helps me - he doesn't have to, obviously, but he grew up with always being told to be a gentleman. ”Can you pick up the other guys and meet me at the end of the pitlane in ten? Seb promised me to take care of my bike, so I need to find him to find out where he hides it.” I look at Alex and he shrugs. ”Sure.” And I'm quite sure my best friend gave him some warning glares behind my back.

Laura hands us our identification badgets and I thank her before turning around and making my way to the entrance. There are some paparazzi, but my overprotective uncle made sure to warn them - if they come too close for my liking, he would sue them and that's something you should definitely be afraid of. ”Good morning, guys”, I greet them politley and let the machine scan my identification badget.

So I enter the paddock and see Sebastian at the Ferrari garage. ”Seb!”, I yell but he doesn't hear me at all. ”For God's sake.” Eyes rolling, I pass the paparazzi and quickly run towards him. ”Sebbie! Basti! Idiot!” Finally, he looks up and I wave at him. ”Charles!” I scoff under my breath and just in time, he opens his arms and I jump literally into his arms. ”You didn't hear me you idiot, now everyone probably thinks I'm weird.”

Mattia chuckles and I pout playfully. ”Anyways, where did you guys hide my bike?” Simone mumbles something like _”is she always going to be that often near our garage?”_ under his breath in Italian, thinking he's clever - but I went to a local Swiss school for four years and had Italian as my second language, I still understand a bit. ”Of course I'm always going to be that often near Seb's garage, just like he's always going to be that often near my garage.”

”She speaks Italian?”, asks Mattia my uncle in disbelief and I scoff. ”Well _she_ went to a Swiss school for four years so _she_ understands the basic stuff”, I answer for him and he gives me a _”just shut up, Charles, your sass is showing a bit too much“_ kind of glare. “Interesting, I thought you guys have a file about me - at least that's what Charles says.“

Before I became a Mercedes Junior, I used to hang around with Charles quite often, he's a really nice guy. “C'mon, let's get your bike.“ Quickly, Sebastian gently grabs my hand and pulls me away from the garage. ”You didn't have to do that, you know they're only sceptical because you're a Merc Junior”, he mumbles and I scoff. ”Then please let them now that Maurizio agreed on being a Merc Junior being the easiest solution for you and me.”

Slightly pissed, I take the keys out of his hand and open the garage door myself. ”In case you forgot, it was the only option for me because you couldn't decide whether staying with RedBull or going to the Scuderia would be better and I had to decide quick.”

Eyes rolling, I hand him his keys, go inside and take my bike. ”See ya later, alligator.“

Later meant exactly seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds later in this case. My team and I just drove around the circuit on our bikes for one time when he and his team leave the pitlane. “Blue flags! Blue flags!“, I yell as I pass them and wave cheekily at them - there are way slower than we are, so I thought it would fit. “For God's sake, honestly, what are we doing here? Racing or Ping-pong?“, adds Alex and passes them as well.

Sebastian's expression is hilarious - he doesn't seem to know if he should laugh with us or if he should look as unamused as the rest of the team, so he does both at the same time and it looks awful, really awful. 

Antti continues to talk and pretends we're not here at all - he knows us too well to hope we're going to stop anytime soon, so this is probably the best way to deal with us. “Oh, so you have to brake here early? I thought you have to brake here as late as possible to literally drift into turn five“, I randomly comment and Laura probably shakes her head in disbelief somewhere behind me. “You know, for the fans so they get to see some real badass moves.“

Everyone looks at me, utterly confused, and only my uncle seems to understand what I'm doing here. “No, you have to down-shift to first gear and drive through this turn as slow as possible.“ Antti wants to say something, but I'm quicker. “What about the last turn, Sebbie? You had your problems there the last few years, let me tell you Felipe's secret: brake as hard as you can without losing the car and driving through the last turn with 10 km/h before quickly speeding up for the straight.“

Obviously, it's utter bullshit what we're saying here - but just when I mention the Brazilian, he shows up with Lance and his team. “Hey Felipe, I just told Seb your secret for the last turn!“, I shout and Alex shakes his head while laughing his arse off. “What se- oh, that one. Yeah, I'm always glad to help a five-time Formula One world champion“, he returns and Lance's expression is even more hilarious than Sebastian's. “And Lance, you need to drift into turn one in order to position your car for turn two!“

* * *

**Q: Max, let's start with you. The last race ended after ten laps for you while being on P2. How frustrating was it for you? Do you know why your engine shut down?**

**Max VERSTAPPEN** : First of all, thanks for having us. It was really frustrating because a podium finish would have been possible. My start was really good and I overtook lots of cars on the straight, so yeah, it was really, really frustrating. No, we don't know yet so it's not really comforting to know that whatever shut my engine down wasn't discovered yet.

 **Charlotte VETTEL** : Wait, we all didn't finish the last race. Maybe our engines were just super afraid of our undeniable talent? (laughs)

 **MV** : Oh my god, now everything makes sense!

 **Stoffel VANDOORNE** : Are you serious, Charly?

 **CV** : It's a better explanation than _“something didn't work like it should but we didn't find it so let's do a prayer circle that it won't happen again“_ , isn't it?

 **SV** : Yeah ...

 **MV** : I already see the headlines _“Vettel's niece is her biggest fan“_.

 **CV** : Nah mate, my granddad is my biggest fan. Or Fabian. Or Alex. Or Seb. But I'm definitely not my biggest fan.

**Q: Your teammate already signed his contract until 2020, what about you, Max?**

**MV** : It's not a topic we talk about yet. The season's just beginning, so I want to focus on the season and not about my future.

**Q: Maybe Ferrari?**

**MV** : We'll see wh-

 **CV** : I'm sorry to interrupt again but I wouldn't expect him to be at Ferrari in the next few years. Don't stare at me like this, I'm an insider and it's not like I tell you something you don't know.

 **MV** : And the next headli-

 **CV** : Stop it, Max, you're even less creative than some guys who think about actual headlines.

**Q: Coming to you, Stoffel. You and Charlotte were seen going to the pitlane together after you both had to stop your cars in lap 2, is there anything y-**

**Stoffel VANDOORNE** : No, oh God, no. I felt sorry for her because that was just a horrible first Formula One race and we had the same way back netherless.

 **CV** : I wouldn't risk my career for one of my fellow drivers, we get along well but there's nothing we need to tell you at all. God, you're worse than the girls at school who still think Jase is my boyfriend.

**Q: It's your second year in Formula One and your second year with McLaren-Honda, what do you expect from this season and what do you expect from your future?**

**SV** : Well, I think we managed to improve quite a bit over the winter, so maybe some more top ten finishes could be expected. And I don't really think about my future right now because I have a contract for this season and that's the most important thing right now.

**Q: Charlotte, there are videos of your and your uncle's track walk online, could you explain to us what exactly you did there?**

**Charlotte VETTEL** : We just joked around a bit, y'know. He explained me some stuff completely wrong and I explained him some stuff - specially the last turn - completely wrong because they left the pitlane when we were on the straight and they were really slow. Jase and I started it when we were karting together and Sebastian always thought it was hilarious.

 **SV** : So that's why I thought he looked familiar! I knew I had seen him before somewhere but I just didn't know where.

**Q: How confident are you for Sunday? What do you expect? What do you think is possible for Lance and you?**

**CV** : That's difficult to answer because I have never been here before. But I did lots of simulator work, I think I understand the car better than in Australia, so Q2 should absolutely be possible. Maybe Q3, but that's more likely possible for Lance. It's going to be a long and difficult race and a lot can happen here, so we'll see.

**QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR**

**Q: Good afternoon. This question is for Charlotte. You started karting under the South African flag but now you're racing under the German flag. Can you tell us why you decided to change it?**

**CV** : That's a good question. I was seven, almost eight when I started karting and then, my home country was South Africa. I didn't think that much about it because for me, it was obvious. But when I got older, I got criticised a lot for representing South Africa as a white person. They told me I wouldn't be a true South African because of my skin colour. I always said it wasn't my fault that the nature decided to do a thing and make my twin brother a non-white person and me a white person. The critics didn't stop and there were times when I didn't want to be on the podium because people would boo at me, not applause for me or just glare at me really akwardly. My granddad made me think about the desicion which country I would like to represent again and that time, I chose Germany. 

 **SV** : Seriously? They just harassed you?

 **CV** : I wouldn't call it harassing me. They just didn't feel like I would represent South African and my father's tribe correctly and they're probably right. Plus it's an amazing feeling to sing the German national anthem with my family.

 **MV** : That's unbelievable. I'm so sorry people told you that because I think you would be a great representative of South Africa.

 **CV** : Alex and I would probably be the only ones who know the national anthem so that would be awkward. 

**Q: Question for Stoffel and Max. As you probably know, Charlotte's career is very controversy. What do you guys think about it?**

**MV** : I think it's cool. I mean, my father was a Formula One driver himself, so I know how it is to be always judged for every little mistake. She's someone's girls can look up to and tell their parents they want to be like her.

 **CV** : I think the only girls who do that are Seb's girls.

 **SV** : I agree with Max. It's good for Formula One to finally have a female driver and because of Sebastian, everybody has heard about her. Maybe that's what people need to realise a woman can do everything a man can if she wants it.

**Q: So you don't think she's just here because of her uncle?**

**SV** : Have you seen FP3 in Australia? She has talent and you can't deny it.

 **CV** : See, that's why my engine shut down. It was afraid of my apparently undeniable talent.

 **MV** : I think Williams did the right thing to give her a seat now because after F2, every time would have wanted her.

 **CV** : Can we talk about something else? Like wh-

 **SV** : No, we can't.

 **CV** : Oh god, someone please save me.

\---  
@CharlotteSV: most akward press conference of my life 

@CharlotteSV: hyped for tomorrow, can't wait to finally sit in my car again! 


	8. e i g h t

**Shanghai International Circuit | Friday**

Before the first free practice session starts, Jason and I walk around the paddock and he randomly takes pictures of me while Alex has a team meeting without the drivers.

I remember my first time being at a Formula One Grand Prix, it was the British Grand Prix 2009. It was his first season at RedBull and he was really excited about it. Friday morning, before the circuit was opened for journalists and the fans, he showed me around and I remember how nervous he was. I watched both practice sessions in his changing room with Britta, as well as the practice session on Saturday, the qualifying and the race.

She made it possible for me to congratulate him on his way from the presentation ceremony to the press conference and I remember watching the tears streaming down his face. He picked me up with the trophy in his hands and he let me kiss it. ”You did it!”, I told him over and over again while Britta yelled at the paparazzi to not take any photos of us, ”you did it, Seb!”

Then, he handed me over to Britta and we sat in his changing room until most of the people were gone. This is what the paddock currently reminds me of. It's really empty, only a few mechanics and other team members are here and nobody really cares about what I'm doing because they're all busy with doing their job correctly.

”What are you thinking about?”, he asks me and I smile. ”How Britta, Sebastian and I walked around the almost empty paddock with his trophy after the British Grand Prix in 2009.” Smiling, he nods at me and gently ruffles through my hair, he knows how much Sebastian means to me. ”And now you're racing against him.” Quietly, I chuckle and look at his garage. ”Yeah, I still can't really believe it.”

* * *

 

 _ **From** : Mick_  
Have fun x

 _ **To** : Mick_  
Thanks, enjoy your weekend off x

 _ **From** : Sebbie_  
Dinner tonight? Just the two of us?

 _ **To** : Sebbie_  
Sounds great!

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
What about dinner tonight?

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
Sebastian already kept the evening free for me :/ what about tomorrow?

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
Okay xx

Smiling, I put my phone away and leave my changing room. It's almost ten and I can't wait to finally sit in my beautiful white car again. Maybe I should name it like Sebastian always does so it's easier to talk about. I leave the building and groan when paparazzi literally run towards me. “Oh God, no“, I mumble under my breath and scoff when I realise that I forgot my sunglasses in my room. “Guys, I know you've got a job to do but I have to do mine and I really need to be at the garage in less than four minutes.“

But it seems like I'm talking to a wand. Instead of somehow reacting to what I said, they just continue taking photos of me and yelling stuff I never heard about before in my face. Great. I shouldn't have denied Jason's offer to wait for me in the first place.

“Hey, hey, hey! What's going on here?“ Fernando comes from the media centre and runs the last few metres towards me. Before I can tell him that I'm totally fine and that it doesn't bother me that my racing overall is wet because they don't let me pass, he places himself in front of me and pushes the paparazzi not very gently backwards. ”Leave her the hell alone!”, he yells and I swear I have never seen him so angry before.

Even when he lost the championship to Sebastian in 2010 when he was so sure of winning the championship, he wasn't that angry. I know that because I was there. I saw the frustration and disbelief on his face, I saw the tears he quickly whipped away before someone could see them - but I did. I saw how he threw his helmet carelessly backstage, I saw how angry he was with himself. But he wasn't as angry as he is now. I secretly cheered for him during the presentation ceremony because I somehow felt bad for him, he wanted to win the championship just as much as Sebastian did. Fernando probably doesn't remember any of this, but I do.

”Just let it be.” But he shakes his head and I swallow hard - this is my second Grand Prix, for God's sake, I have to make sure everyone has a good impression of me. And this is not how you archive that. Furiously, he grabs my left arm and I wince in surprise. Maybe he didn't notice it or he just decided to ignore it, I don't know, but he starts making his way through the group of paparazzi and pulls me with him.

I hold up my right arm to cover my eyes as good as possible while trying to keep up with him. My legs are shaking and I'm slightly afraid of stumbling over my own feet.

Some paparazzi follow us and he yells at them to leave us - or more likely me - the hell alone or he would make sure to tell Sebastian who harassed me and drop the hint that suing those idiots would be appropriate. And not even two seconds later, they're all gone. “You didn't have to do that“, I mumble, still overwhelmed by what just happened and all out of a sudden, he's totally calm again.

“Some of those idiots yelled stuff in German, didn't they? What did they say?“ Instead of telling him, I just shrug and look down. “Charlotte!“ Claire runs towards us and I look at her, totally confused, until I realise that I missed the first few minutes of the first free practice session. “Where were you? We were worried when you didn't show up in time, everyone's looking for you!“

I want to say something, but my mouth is dry and not a single sounds passed my lips. “Paparazzi harassed her, she should be alright but maybe give her a few minutes before she gets into her car. I'll check on you later, alright Charlotte?“ When I nod weakly, he smiles a bit, turns around and leaves me alone with Claire. “Lance's going to stay out a bit longer so you don't have to do everything we wanted you to do in the ninety minutes. It was nice of him to get you away from them. You don't look that well, are you really alright?“ And again I don't tell her what they yelled at me in German but nod and give her a weak smile instead.

* * *

The first free practice session didn't went well for me. I almost crashed nine times and hit some barriers quite gently a few times. I also got off the track around fifteen times and spun second times. And I don't understand why I was that unfocused, being harassed by paparazzi is sadly nothing new to me. But I never got to hear so much shit like today.

“What's wrong?“, asks Alex as soon as I'm out of the car and I just shrug, I don't feel like talking to a person right now. Plus I am still annoyed by the Halo because it just doesn't seem right to me. It's annoying and I can see less stuff than I could in the cars Sebastian won the championship with - he let me drive them twice each as a preparation for my Formula One testing debut.

When I leave the garage, Fernando waits for me and I can't help but slightly roll my eyes at him. “You're obviously not fine, Charlotte, that's not you. That's not the Charlotte Felipe couldn't shut up about because he was so fascinated by your talent, your understanding and your passion when he first saw you racing.“

Just like earlier, I just shrug and he gently places a hand on my shoulder. “I'm not the only one who's worried about you.“ Surprised and confused, I look at him and smirking, he lowers his voice. “Stoffel actually wanted to come instead of me but I told him it could just give the paparazzi more reasons to harass you and he obviously doesn't want that.“

Stoffel. For some reasons, I'm really excited about dinner tomorrow night with him. Just alone thinking about him makes me smile and Fernando chuckles. “Anyways, I know for sure you could always call Felipe if you want to talk, but I'm also there if you need someone to talk.“

My team leaves the garage together and Alex gives me a questioning glare. “You should better join them“, the Spaniard states the obvious and I just nod. “Try to ban the paparazzi and whatever they said to you from your thoughts, okay?“ And again, I just nod and mentally slap myself for nodding that often. “Oh, and Stoffel can't wait for your date tomorrow night“, he mumbles before gently ruffling through my hair. “Good luck for the second one.“

* * *

The second free practice session went better, but it was still not good enough to make me feel better. I did too many small mistakes and Lance had to stay out longer again to get some more data for the whole team to use. The car felt even more awful than in Australia and I struggled a lot.

Felipe told me to not worry about it, apparently it's normal to struggle way more than usual on some days. “Tomorrow's a new day, tomorrow you have a new chance to do it better“, he said and he's probably right, but it's still frustrating. It's so frustrating that I was close to cancel dinner with Sebastian, knowing he would totally understand it if I wanted the rest of the day for myself. But I know how difficult it is for him to keep an evening free for family, so I just couldn't cancel the dinner because my day didn't went as well as I hoped.

 _ **To** : Sebbie_  
On my way x

I was offered a ride to the restaurant Sebastian - or more likely Britta - chose, but it's only a few hundred metres away from my hotel, so I decided to walk. Some of Lance's and my crew members are walking around together and I greet them politely when I pass them.

When I was younger, we always had dinner together on Fridays, no matter what. My mother decided to split Alex and me up to make sure we get used to the western way of life, the culture, the language and everything instead of doing everything together and continuing to speak Afrikaans. Alex moved to my grandparents' and grew up with Fabian while Sebastian and Hanna agreed on taking care of me. And because of his busy schedule, we quickly had the tradition of having dinner on Fridays, no matter when and where.

The restaurant is normal, not as fancy as I expected and I'm quite surprised that he isn't waiting outside like he usually does. So I enter the building and ask for the table for Roeske - that's what Britta always does, reserving tables for us with her name - and the lady shows me an empty table at the very back.

Confused, I look around and sit down, sighing frustrated. Sebastian is never too late, he's usually ten minutes early because I'm usually five minutes early and he wants to be there before I am. This is so untypical and strange, something's absolutely _not_ right.

 _ **To** : Sebbie_  
Where are you?

Just when I send the message, someone enters the restaurant, but it's not my uncle. It's Pascal.

 _ **From** : Sebbie_  
Couldn't make it, here's some serious stuff going on. So I asked Pascal to represent me. Sorry, Charles, next week sushi?

_This idiot set us up._


	9. n i n e

**Shanghai International Circuit | Saturday**

Instead of spending the hours before the third and last free practice session with the team to improve the goddamn setup, I had a private meeting with the FIA guys. As it turned out, someone decided to be a dick, took photos of me and Pascal awkwardly having dinner together and sharing them on Twitter and I had the honour of explaining myself. They weren't amused, not at all, but I had the text messages from my uncle as a proof and they had to call Toto and ask him to join us so he could translate the messages for them.

All in all, the meeting was ridiculous and a waste of my and their time. I would have needed the time to talk to my crew, to discuss several setup changes and to go through my mistakes from yesterday, but FIA decided to remind me of the power they have over me.

”Hey guys.” It's 9:40 am and this day officially sucks. Already in my racing overall, I hug my brother from behind and he just sighs. ”What did those dickheads say?”, he asks, knowing the reason for the private meeting. ”Oh they just politely reminded me of the extra contract and that they have the complete power over my career. Was really thoughtful of them because I totally forget it.” Frustrated, I scoff under my breath and roll my eyes. ”Anyways, did I miss anything important? Did you guys do the setup changes or not? And I guess I have to finish yesterday's long runs and then it's all about qualifying, am I right or am I right?”

Surprisingly, I was wrong about the program. They decided that Lance would finish yesterday's long runs for the both of us while they want me to completely focus on preparing myself for qualifying and for the race. ”They think you're too young for this”, mumbles Felipe quietly under his breath when he fastens my seatbelts and hands me my steering wheel. ”What?” Confused and shocked, I look at him and don't notice that Alex hands me the rest of my racing gear. ”They asked me to replace you after this race but I told them I wouldn't even dare to think about it.”

I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. Why is he telling me this now? Why is he telling me this now, right before the free practice session? Why is he telling me this a few hours before the qualifying? ”Don't worry, Alex and I got your back. And now prove them wrong, Charlotte. Get out of the garage and prove them what you're made of. Show them why you're a Mercedes Junior. Show them why Toto gave you this opportunity.” ”It's time!”, yells Clare before I can even think of an answer and Felipe smiles at me. ”Show them.”

Weakly, I nod and someone helps me with my helmet and my gloves and I follow Lance out of the garage, onto the track and overtake him as soon as possible. And I'm in my trance, everything's forgotten. All what matters to me is the good luck card from the girls, the track and the car, and that's how it should be.

* * *

> _Good luck Charli!_
> 
> _We belive in you!_   
>  _Emily + Mathilda!_

* * *

We managed to improve the setup a lot. Maybe it's because of the simulator work I did last night after the awkward dinner with Pascal to get rid off everything I needed to get rid off. Maybe it's because of the data Lance collected yesterday. Maybe it's because of what Felipe told me, I don't know. But I don't really care because this is how my car should feel like. Stable when I'm off-throttle, stable when I speed up from second to sixth gear.

”Well done!” Felipe high fives me as soon as I'm out of the car and I give him a thankful glare. ”Thanks, the car felt way better than yesterday.” Alex ruffles through my hair and I playfully roll my eyes at him. ”I just need to go through some stuff with the lads so I won't have lunch with you guys. But I'll be finished in time so we can do the pre-qualifying workout together.”  
It seems to be an innocent information for me, his twin sister, but with the glare he gives me, I know what he's actually going to do. He's joining a briefing only the higher guys in the team are allowed to join - maybe Felipe got him in, I don't know and I don't really care at all.

So I nod and decide to pretend I have no clue about the team's wish to get rid off me as soon as possible. ”It can only become better, so please don't spend your whole lunch break going through my data to make sure my car's fine because I can tell you that my car's totally fine.” Slightly, he coughs as a sign for me to leave and I smile as wide as possible, turn around and leave the garage for lunch.

Lunch break was and is always a personal highlight for me because I get to spend it with Sebastian, Britta, Laura - usually Alex as well - and whoever else decides to join us. This time, Maurizio and Fernando join us - our table is the only one in the paparazzi and fan free VIP area with free chairs, so that's probably why the Spaniard joined us.

”You were faster than we expected”, comments Maurizio and I look up from my pasta, does he talk to me? ”Oh come on, I told you she just needs the right setup.” Okay, he's _definitely_ talking about me. ”Thanks I guess?” Fernando chuckles and I quietly scoff under my breath. ”Simulator work is the best thing you can do when you just can't sleep.”

Truth is, I didn't feel like sleeping at all. Pascal's presence made me feel weird and I got over it with focusing on the weekend instead of focusing on my damn emotions. ”You do simulator work when you can't sleep?” The Spaniard looks at me in disbelief and I shrug. ”Yeah, when I can't sleep it's usually a sign that I don't feel as comfortable as I should with the car or with the track so I do some simulator work.”

The rest of lunch was uninteresting. Sebastian and Maurizio discussed if they would chose setup A or B - I was for setup C but they didn't even acknowledge my opinion - while Laura and Britta talked about a guy they both knew and I posted photos of Fernando eating in my Instagram story because I was bored and didn't know what to do with myself until my dear twin brother finally decided to show up.

”Finally, I thought you wouldn't show up at all.” Cheekily, I smile at him and stand up. Secretly, I really want to know what they talked about but I know he won't tell me until we're back at the hotel so asking him now is useless. ”Well you could have changed while you waited for me.” Eyes rolling, I point at his jeans and chuckle. ”You need to get changed as well so you better shut the fuck up, brother dear.”

So we both get changed - he gets changed in my bathroom while I change into my workout clothes in my small changing slash however you want to call this room room. It has its advantages, being a woman and every male being low-key afraid of sharing a bathroom with you so they just give you a bathroom of your own. ”Ready?”, he yells and I can tell he has to control himself to not burst into laughters. ”Nah mate, I'm still naked”, I shout back and he opens the door with the most ridiculous smirk on his face. ”You lied!”

* * *

I have a love hate relationship with sports and specially working out. I know I need to do it in order to be fit enough to drive a freaking Formula One car and everything, but I would prefer laying on a couch and watching something on Netflix.

”Let's jump over the barriers, I don't want to run the whole way around the barriers”, announces Alex when we enter the circuit and I nod, slow down and watch him jumping with a badass jumn over the barriers. They're not that high, maybe 60 to 70 centimetres so it's totally fine. ”Your jump was good but mine is better!”, I exclaim while I run towards the barriers and jump.

But I twist my left ankle somehow and someone quickly grabs me before I can hit the ground. Pascal. I can tell it's him only by the smell of the aftershave he uses. ”Are you alright?”, he asks and I quickly stand up and try to suppress the pain. ”Yeah, I'm alright.” I give him a weak smile and literally feel Alex's sceptical glare on me. ”Good, I have to go but see you later or tomorrow. Good luck, Charly!” ”You too.”

”Don't you even dare of thinking about telling me you're alright. Your ankle's already swollen and I can tell you're in pain. If I were you I would go to the medical centre and let them have a look, that doesn't look good at all.” Quietly, I scoff under my breath, he knows me too well. ”It's alright, Alex, I can do this. I have to do this. The docs would never let me race with a twisted ankle.”

I try to walk over to him and quietly whine in pain. He knows I'm right and I know I'm right but that doesn't change the fact that it hurts like hell and that I can barely walk - and I have to brake with that foot, _great_. ”Alright but if it's not better after qualifying, you let the doctors at the medical centre have a look.” But what about dinner with Stoffel? Knowing I have no other choice, I nod weakly and sigh under my breath. ”And you know we have to tell Seb because he's your guardian.”

With pleading eyes, I look at my twin brother. ”After qualifying, I'll tell him, I promise you - he would never let me race with a twisted ankle. Just let me prove I can race with a twisted ankle as well, okay?” Alex wants to say no, I can tell, but he also knows that I really need to prove myself to keep the seat for at least some more races. ”Take painkillers before qualifying and I'll keep my mouth shut about your twisted ankle, sister dear.”

In relief, I nod quickly, somehow manage to walk over to him and pull him into a quick, sweaty hug. ”Thanks.”

While I get changed quickly, he goes straight back to the garage, claiming he would somewhen get changed before qualifying. It's 1:30 pm and I should mentally be going through the perfect lap for the hundredths time, but instead, all I can think about is my damn left ankle. It really hurts and as Alex said, it's awfully swollen. Changing into my racing overall takes me a bit longer than usual, and I don't know if I'm going to survive this. My shoe presses against my swollen ankle and maybe I should have listened to Alex. Maybe. It's too late to change my mind anyways, so I just have to do this somehow.

Before I leave the room, I check my phone for new notifications and I'm surprised to see that my mom send me a message.

 _ **From** : Mom_  
Are you free later for a phone call?

We barely communicate since she prefers to ask Sebastian about my wellbeing. It's okay though, I understand that it's difficult for her to keep in touch with her kids she gave away to have a career. The official reason why Alex and I grew up with our grandparents and Fabian - in his case - or with Sebastian and Hanna - in my case - was that we couldn't had been integrated that well together but actually our mom just wanted to have a career.

 _ **To** : Mom_  
I'll text you if I have free time later

* * *

Q1 went surprisingly well. After my first try, I was P8 so there was no reason for me to get out again - thanks God, because my ankle hurt and every slight moving was really painful.

Q2 didn't went as well as Q1 since I needed two tries but it was fine because I managed to finish it on P9 after

Now, it's time for Q3. Because Lance was in P10 and the team didn't expect me to improve that much, they didn't send him out again - so I kicked my own teammate out of the top ten. I don't really feel sorry for him, he could have easily asked for a second try since he crossed the line before the time was up. ”Okay, Charles, you've got only this try with fresh tyres so make the best out of it. Track should be clear, you know what to do”, says Alex over the team radio and I take a deep breath and drive out of the garage.

He was right, the track is clear. A McLaren-Honda and a RedBull are behind me, but it should be fine. I drive into turn one and take a deep breath, knowing every small mistake could mess up my next lap.

Turn one to four are difficult and I have to stay really focused. The straight to turn five let's me breath again and I'm braking slightly to make sure the tyres are perfectly warm for the next lap. For me, personally, turn six is one of the most trickiest parts of the track because I tend to enter the turn a bit too fast. The RedBull behind me goes off the track in turn eight and I chuckle quietly before entering turn nine and ten. In the straight after turn thirteen, I brake slightly and often to reassure myself the tyres are warm enough for my fast lap.

Sebastian leaves the pit lane when I cross the line and start my fast lap and he slows down - probably to let me pass so he doesn't hold me up. The lap goes well, I barely do any mistakes and I pass the turns that worry me the most without locking up or something like that. It won't be enough for the top 5, but I'll take it.

I drive into the pit lane and sigh in relief. Every slight movement with my left foot is really painful and I don't even want to think about the race tomorrow. That's going to be interesting. ”Red flag, Sebastian's engine shut down on the straight. Don't think there will be enough time for a restart, you're currently P2. Max P1, Vandoorne P3.” Some mechanics come out and move the car back into the garage. ”Are you serious? _P2_?”

Even though we agreed on only doing one try in Q3 - officially to save tyres for tomorrow, secretly because one try means less pain for me - they let me sit in my car to show the others I'm ready to fight for my current position. ”Is Seb alright?”, I ask when they place the monitor on my car and I move my eyepiece up to see better. ”He sounded really frustrated and pissed, but he should be alright.”

Felipe gives me a thumps up and I smile weakly at him. The Marshals clearly give their best to bring Sebastian's Ferrari off the track as soon as possible, but the car rolls a bit away from them. They show Toto's expression and it's low-key hilarious because for me, it's good that it takes them so long but for Mercedes and the other teams who didn't have their drivers out yet, it's horrible. ”Two minutes left, I don't think the track is clear in time.” Alex walks over to me and I look at him, confused. With a huge smile plastered on his face, he holds his hand up and we high five.

”They have only time left for one lap, so they can't warm up their tyres. Nobody should be able to beat Vandoorne's time so you should be fine.”

Jason helps me getting out of the car seconds after the time is up. P2. _P - fucking - two._ In my second Formula One qualifying ever. My whole crew congratulates me and some of them tell me something, but I'm in a trance. Together with Alex and Jason, I slowly make my way to the press conference while my crew brings my car to the parc fermé. ”How is your foot doing?”, asks my brother and I shrug. ”Well ... it hurts. A lot. But I don't think I need to see a doctor at a-” ”Charly, you're hobbling awfully. You need to see a doctor straight after the press conference.”

Quietly, I scoff under my breath, knowing they'll probably wait with a doctor in front of the room of the press conference. ”Charly!”, shouts Stoffel and my brother clenches his fists. ”Is everything alright? You're hobbling quite a bit.” Worriedly, he looks at me and I sigh. ”It's nothing, just twisted my left ankle earlier.” I can tell he's really happy with today's results, but for some reasons, I'm not. This is not the way how I wanted to archive my first time being in the top three in qualifying. I always wanted it to be a hard battle, nothing being safe until the last one crosses the battle and not like this, given on a silver tablet.

”Maybe you should let a doctor have a look at it, the way you walk doesn't look good at all.” Together, we enter the building and I can hear Max talking to someone, probably to his sister on the phone. ”But what about ... dinner?”, I mumble and decide after the first step of the stairs that I can't walk upstairs due the pain.  
Now that the adrenaline slowly leaves my body, the pain becomes more and more and I just want to lay down right here with an ice pack for my ankle. ”If you like, I can accompany you to the medical centre so your brother can stay here for the engineer talk stuff and we can have dinner in your room. You know, room service or takeaway, whateve-”, he turns around and realises I didn't go upstairs with him, ”does it hurt so much? C'mon, let me carry you.”


	10. t e n

**Shanghai at night | Saturday**

The doctors at the medical centre send me to a hospital because they wanted another doctor to look at my ankle. So Stoffel - yes, I asked him to come with me because Alex still had stuff to do at the circuit and Jason was busy with talking to other photographers when we were finished with the press conference so this was the easiest way - and Laura's boyfriend accompanied me to the hospital where we had to wait another two hours until a doctor had time for me.

When we were told we had to wait at least one and a half hour, Stoffel asked Fernando to bring us some Chinese takeaway from the restaurant the Spaniard always visits whenever he's here. And to my surprise, he showed up not even fifteen minutes later with food.

It was ridiculous, eating in the waiting area of one of Shanghai's bigger hospitals and earning not amused glares from nurses and doctors who passed us.

But I had to spend the whole two hours in my fireproof underwear because a nurse told me to and I really hated it. Another nurse gave me a blanket to cover myself up a bit as soon as we arrived and Stoffel didn't hesitate to take his shirt off and hand it over to me when he noticed I still didn't feel really comfortable.

Before Fernando arrived, I rested my foot on Stoffel's lap and struggled to find a position that wasn't too uncomfortable and I didn't move my legs for. But when I was in another McSandwich, it was easier because I could rest my head on the Belgian's lap and my left foot on Fernando's lap and punch him whenever he moved.

* * *

 

 _ **From** : Hanna_  
Are you alright? Tilda almost started crying when she saw you hobbling ...

 _ **To** : Hanna_  
Twisted ankle, should be alright in a few weeks. They're currently discussing wether I can start tomorrow or not.

 _ **From** : Hanna_  
You did a really job today but I know that's not how you wanted your first Top 3 qualification to be. They already decided Em's going to cheer for Seb and Tilda's going to cheer for you.

 _ **To** : Hanna_  
Awww, they're too adorable. Give them both a kiss from me!

 _ **From** : Max_  
Are you alright?

 _ **To** : Max_  
Yeah, I'm just trying to listen to the discussion wether I can start tomorrow or not. It's just a twisted ankle but it's FIA's decision and blablabla.

 _ **From** : Max_  
It would be a shame to not race against you tomorrow.

 _ **To** : Max_  
I'll let them know you want me to beat you tomorrow.

 _ **From** : guy named Jason_  
So ... are you going to start tomorrow or not?

 _ **From** : guy named Jason_  
Seb's freaking out because you didn't tell him. Good luck with the talk tomorrow, Charles.

 _ **To** : guy named Jason_  
Don't know yet, Chinese Doctor and FIA Doctor are still discussing. Tell him I didn't want him to worry, I know he won't look at his phone until tomorrow morning.

 _ **From** : Bro™_  
I'll sleep in Jase's bed and he'll sleep on his couch so you have our room for yourself tonight. Stay safe and text me when they decided wether you're going to start or not.

 _ **To** : Bro™_  
I will, no worries.

* * *

And here we are, sitting in front of the Chinese doctor's office and waiting for them to finally come out and tell us wether I'm allowed to start or not. It's ridiculous and it's just a waste of time.

”Can you walk?” Finally, at 10:38 pm, they finally leave the office and I look at the FIA doctor, not sure what to answer. ”I walked from the garage to the press conference and from the press conference to the medical centre, so yeah, I think I can walk”, I answer and mentally pray Stoffel doesn't blurt out that he carried me most of the time because the pain became worse and worse with less and less adrenaline rushing through my body. ”Then please walk up and down the hallway.”

With a frown, I look at the two doctors and Laura's boyfriend and slowly stand up when the latter nods at me. ”From one to ten, how painful is it?”

It's a nine at least, more likely a 9.5, but they don't have to know that at all. ”Uh ... a three I guess.” Very slowly, I walk up and down the hallway. Every step is awfully painful and I clench my frists when I know they can't see it. ”You're walking really slowly and you're hobbling quite a bit, are you sure it's only a three?”, asks the FIA doctor and I can tell he's smirking. ”Maybe it's a four, but it's okay.”

No, it's not okay. It takes me a lot of self-control to not burst out in tears or to slam my fists against a wall. ”To reduce the swelling as fast as possible, you can take some painkillers, put some ice packs on your ankle and out a pillow or two underneath”, translates Laura's boyfriend and I turn around way too quick and quietly wince in pain. ”You let me start tomorrow?”

Both doctors nod and I sigh in relief. ”Thank you so much.” Stoffel and Fernando both smile at me and I slowly walk back to them and hug them both without even thinking. ”I'll make sure you get some painkillers  
and a pair of crutches, someone's going to bring them to your room in a bit, okay?” Quickly, I nod and smile slightly at the doctors and Laura's boyfriend. ”Before the race, I would like you to come to the medical centre. Until then, my colleagues and I will have figured out how to stabilise your foot while giving it the freedom it needs.”

Again, I nod and the Chinese doctor leaves. ”Thanks”, I tell Laura's boyfriend and he just shrugs. ”I'm glad I could help. I'll tell her so you don't have to do it, alright? Good night, Charly, good night you two.”

* * *

”Finally.” Stoffel unlocks the door, opens it and lets me in. ”Are you going to be alright on your own or ...?”, he asks and I shrug. ”Depends on wether I take the painkillers or not.” In relief, I let my sore and tired body fall down on the soft mattress and he watches me confused. ”What do you want to tell me?” As quiet as possible, he closes the door behind him and awkwardly stands in my room. ”Alex says painkillers are my drugs. Nobody really understands why, but when I take painkillers, I start to talk weird stuff and I usually feel dizzy.”

”Oh.” Surprised, he looks at me and I nod. ”But I don't think I'll tak-” ”You should, Charlotte. It helps reducing the swelling and it should make it easier for you to sleep.” He sounds like Sebastian whenever he lectures me on something. ”Well, I don't want to be on my own. Sebastian and Alex need the sleep and waking up Jason is a mission impossible, so I've got no on-” ”I can stay here if that's okay for you. Only until you're asleep of course.”

And because I don't know how to survive this night on my own without painkillers, I agree. ”If you're not 100% fit tomorrow, I'll feel bad for the rest of my life.” Chuckling, he kicks his shoes in the direction of the door and carefully sits on my bed. ”Don't worry, I had plenty of sleep last night. And I don't think I could sleep if I didn't know you're alright.” Slightly blushing, I look away - nobody has never said something like this to me and I have no idea how to react.

After a few moments of awkward silence, he stands up and looks smiling at me. ”Do you want to take the painkillers now or later?”, he asks and I sigh. ”I guess I'll take one now or I'll have to sleep in my fireproof  
underwear.” We share an awkward glare because I know what this means and I can tell his imagination is running wild and he slowly nods. ”Alright, with water or are you fine without?” Quietly, I scoff under my breath and give him a _”are you kidding me?”_ \- kind of glare. ”Okay, okay, with water, got it.”

So he hands me the box of painkillers and a bottle of water and I look at him, hoping to find an expression on his face that tells me he doesn't want me to take them - but he watches me and awkwardly looks away when I look at him. ”Let's do this”, I mutter under my breath and quickly gulp the pill down with water.

”Before we do this, I just want to let you know I never did something like this before and that I'm sorry for anything weird that might happen because I have no idea how to do this”, he rambles and his cheeks turn red. ”Shut up and just give me a shirt and a pair of boxers.” I already feel slightly dizzy, but that must be my imagination.  
”You sleep in a shirt and in a pair of boxers?” Blushing hard, he looks at me and realises he said his thoughts out loud. ”It's not that I don't like it, it's just that none of my former girlfriends even dared to think about sleeping in comfortable stuff. They always just wanted to look good for me which didn't make sense but I don't really want to talk about them right now.”

Quietly, I yawn and just nod. ”And I wouldn't even dare to think about not sleeping in comfortable clothing because that's what sleep is about - having a comfortable and relaxed rest.” With his cheeks still blushing, he hands the first shirt and the first boxer that I carelessly left on the floor and I give him a tired smile. ”Thanks.” Slowly, I sit up and sigh in relief when I finally take the fireproof and really tight sweater off. I can hear him. I can hear him chuckle and just scoff under my breath.

Then, I put the shirt on and undo the fireproof and way too tight fitted bra off - that's the way it has to be, according to FIA, but I'm still not really sure about it. To my surprise, I manage to take it off without exposing myself to him and throw the bra carelessly on the floor.

Again, I yawn and slowly let myself crash down on the soft mattress. ”Isn't it uncomfortable to sleep like this?” I costs me so much energy to simply keep my eyes open, so I just sigh instead of rolling my eyes sarcastically. ”It probably would be quite uncomfortable, but I didn't plan to sleep like this. But you have to help me with the fireproof pants because well ... they're tight.” By now, I absolutely do not care how much he sees it doesn't see, I just want to sleep for God's sake.

It's awkward, really awkward. At least for him - I, on the other hand - just want it to be over so I can take more painkillers and finally sleep. ”Alright, tell me if the pain becomes too much and I'll stop.” Weakly, I nod and do the first part myself since he's blushing so hard and even through my dizziness, I can tell he has no idea how to do it. ”Just do it or you'll have to watch me cutting those pants of my legs with a scissor.”

My head becomes heavier and heavier with every second that passes and I watch him with half-opened eyes taking slowly and carefully the fireproof pants off my legs. It hurts, some movements hurt way more than other, but I decide to not let him know. ”How are you feeling?”, he asks and I look at him while finally gets rid of the trousers. ”Sleepy, can't promise I'll remember any of this tomorrow morning.”

In relief, I get under the blanket and manage to take off the fireproof panty and to get changed into the way more comfortable boxers instead. ”Stoff?”, I mumble, too tired to listen to his ramblings, ”painkillers and water, please?” I look at the alarm clock next to my bed and choke on my salvia when I realise it's almost one am. He should be sleeping for hours right now, not taking care of me. ”Here we go.” Lost in my dizzy thoughts, I didn't notice him handing me the pills and the water I ask for and so I wince quietly when his voice is suddenly next to my ear.

Like earlier, I gulp down the painkillers with the water and shake my head slightly at the awful taste those small white pills left in my throat. While I make myself as comfortable as possible, he turns the light off and sits down on the ground, leaning his torso on the wall behind him.

Given he can't sit still, it doesn't seem to be a comfortable position. ”Y'know I've got a king-sized bed on my own for the night and I wouldn't mind having someone to cuddle with”, I randomly blurt out and mentally curse myself for it. ”Are you sure? Because I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, I kind of like you a bit too much for that.”

A few not understandable sounds by me, he carefully lays down beside me and that's how I fall asleep, with his arms gently wrapped around me and him slowly humming Ed Sheeran's _”Shape of you”_ in my ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop, I finally managed to finish the next chapter! Anyways, kudos/opinions are always welcomed and I hope you have a great day/night!


	11. e l e v e n

**Shanghai International Circuit | Sunday**

”Charlotte Shaona Vettel, wake up _now_.” Groaning, I turn around and hide myself under the blanket. The night was way too short for my liking. ”I'm not going to repeat myself, Charlotte.” Sebastian's voice is filled with anger and I know better than ignoring him when he's already pissed off.

”What?”, I mumble quietly, sit up and look at him. ”How do you dare to risk your career like that? You know FIA's keeping an extra eye on you because of the extra contract, what if they find out about this?” Utterly confused, I look at him and yawn. ”What the hell are you talking about?”

In disbelief, he stares at me and shakes his head. ”You broke so many rules last night, I don't think I have to tell you how disappointed I am of you.” And I still have no idea what he's talking about, the last thing I remember is Stoffel unlocking the door of my hotel room for me, everything that happened afterwards has disappeared. ”Listen, I have no idea what you're talk-” ”Give me your phone. Now.”

Before I can even say something, he sees my precious smartphone laying on the bedside table and quickly takes it. ”Tell me what's going on and I can hopefully explain it to you. I took painkillers last night and so I remember ... barely something. The last thing I know that happened for sure is Stoffel unlocking the door for me. We talked, but I have no clue about what and everything after that is really blurry.”

”So you can't tell me why Stoffel and you slept in one bed.” It's not a question, it's more likely a fact he states just to make sure he understands it. ”He slept _here? With me?_ Well ... you and Alex always said I wanted to cuddle all the time, maybe that's what happened? But I swear to God, Seb, nothing happened.“ He clenches his fists and he looks at me, sceptically. “You know I wouldn't risk my career for him, not after everything I went through to get here.“

Slowly, he nods; he knows I'm right. He knows me too well to think I would be that silly and that stupid. “If it makes you feel better, you can keep my phone, it's not like I need it anyways today.“ Carefully, I stand up and groan in pain. This is going to be an interesting day. “Oh, I totally forgot to congratulate you on P2 yesterday. You did an amazing job and you should be really proud of yourself even though that wasn't how you imagined your first time qualifying in the top three.”

With small and careful steps, I make my way to the suitcase that's lying on the other end of the room and try to not groan in pain with every single step I take. ”Thanks. Sorry I couldn't be there to calm you down after your frustrating Q3 session.” Frustrated, he sighs and I whine in pain while bending down to grab a random pair of jeans, a bra and one of the Williams Crew Sweaters I got on my first day, turn around and slowly walk back to my bed to sit down and get dressed. ”It's alright, I know it wasn't my fault so there's nothing I could do about it. How is your ankle doing? You're hobbling awfully.”

I sigh under my breath and shrug. ”It hurts but there's nothing I can really do about it for a longer period of time. Even the ice pack yesterday in hospital didn't help longer than two or three hours.” To be completely honest, I have absolutely no idea who I will survive the race later today. ”And the FIA doctor seriously lets you race? Is he blind?” By the way he asks the questions, I know those are rhetorical ones - he already knows I didn't tell them yesterday how painful every slight movement actually is.

“Why didn't he call me to make sure it's alright for me?“, he asks himself - again, he already knows the answer. “Look, I'm not really proud of what I did last night but they wouldn't let me race without your approval and I don't think I have to remind you how often you lied to the FIA docs to be allowed to race.“ Because I don't feel like discussing at all, I just get dressed in front of him - it's not like he hasn't seen me in underwear anyways. Whenever we spend our fee free days in Italy with Hanna and the girls, I walk around in my underwear or a bikini all the time.

“Can you please remind me I have to go to the Medical Centre at 12? They want to put another bandage on that should give me more freedom to move my foot and my ankle while stabilising it before the race.“ With a worried expression on his face, he nods and looks around my - and usually Alex's - room. ”Didn't you get crutches to walk with?” Quietly, I groan and roll my eyes. ”But I don't need the-” ”You can choose between walking with your crutches or me having a serious conversation with the FIA doctor.”

* * *

Obviously, I chose the crutches over the conversation. It's 12:50 pm and Jason is currently driving me back to my garage from the Medical Centre - I went there straight after the Driver's Parade and some FIA guys didn't seem pleased when I disappeared as soon as possible. Sebastian organised a golf cart for me and since my best friend just got his driver's license before we left for Shanghai, he had to drive, that was out of question. ”So it seriously took them an hour to take the old bandage off and to put a new bandage on.” Laughing, he waves at some fans while I look down on my bandaged foot in unamusement. ”That was a complete waste of time.”

With the cart's high speed, he drives into the pit lane and laughs his arse off at everyone's reaction. Apparently I'm not the only one who got way too less sleep last night. When I didn't get as much sleep as I need, I'm grumpy. Meanwhile, Jason has the tendency to seem high whenever he didn't get enough sleep.

“Jase, calm down or FIA might ask you to do a drug test“, I comment his behaviour, grab my crutches and somehow manage to get off the cart without twisting my other ankle. “ Alex and I share a look while he's having a conversation with the strategy guys and the look says it all - “you know he can't sleep without knowing you're alright“.

Since I was harassed by some of rivals years ago, Jason can't sleep without a good night text, without a phone call or without having me next to him and last night, I totally forgot to send him the text I already wrote while waiting in the hospital for the final decision.

Felipe quickly walks towards me and smiles weakly. “Claire's waiting for you backstage. Are you sure you can race with your ankle? The way you walk makes it obvious that it hurts a lot.“ Shrugging, I sigh and slowly walk through the garage. “As long as I can walk, I should be fine with racing.“ He follows me and doesn't seem to be really convinced. “Do you know what she wants to talk about?“, I ask him to change the topic and I can tell he knows what I am trying to do. “No, but she probably wants to make sure you're alright. Everyone was worried when you didn't show up after the press conference, Charlotte.“

We enter the backstage area and I already see Claire sitting there. “How are you?“ Confused and surprised, I look at her and shrug slightly. “Uh ... I'm alright I guess.“ Sceptical, she looks at me and I sit down next to her. ”If you say you can't race with you-” ”No, I'm fine, I can do it.” She and Felipe share a look and he shrugs. ”Alex said she had won her first European Formula Three race with a broken hand and he wouldn't worry too much about her if he was me, so I think you should let her as long as she promises to tell us if the pain becomes unbearable for her.”

Quietly, I scoff under my breath - my brother loves to tell that story of my first F3 victory - and nod at the Brazilian's suggestion. ”Do you promise?”, Claire asks and looks seriously into my eyes. "I promise”, I mumble and mentally roll my eyes at her, I wouldn't even dare to think about letting them know if the pain became too much. This race is way too important for my future in Formula One for having it ruined by my clumsiness.

* * *

Warming up properly and without risking another injury - installation lap - grid - some small interviews - national anthem - good luck wishes. The last hour before the race literally flies past me, it's unbelievable how much you can fit in less than sixty minutes if it's necessary.

It's 1:57 pm and Jason gently ruffles through my hair. ”Good luck, Charles, not that you need it anyway.” Cheekily, he smiled at me, presses a soft kiss on my forehead. It probably looks low-key weird since I'm already sitting in my car while he's kneeling next to it, but I don't care. My best friend's here to support me and that's all what matters to me right now. ”Oh, maybe you have to remind Felipe of the headset he organised for you, he tends to forget stuff like that.”

Smiling, he nods and stands up. ”Don't worry about the headset, the only thing you have to think about is the race.” Then, he hands me my balaclava and I roll my eyes at him. “Well don't worry about my race, spend the whole morning thinking about it.“ Quietly, he chuckles and I grin. “Have fun, J. And I swear to God don't touch your camera, if I -“ “I love you too, Charly.“

Awkwardly, he waves at me, turns around and leaves the track - given the drama Sebastian made out of Stoffel falling asleep in my bed, he probably just had eye contact with said driver and didn't know how to react. My brother doesn't know it and it's better that way, but since Jason and I slept together, his behaviour around other guys I like as friends changed dramatically. “Charles, your helmet.“

Two minutes later, the only thing that matters to me is the start. Even though I spend the last twenty minutes of the third free practice session yesterday with working on my starts, this is the moment I have the most respect for. If you start from the back of the grid, a bad start isn't that dramatic but starting from P2, the start is a huge factor for the development of my race.  
The lights turn red and I take a deep breath. This is it. My heart beats faster and faster and I could swear my hands are a bit sweaty.

Then, everything happens really fast. My start is okay - it's not the best start I ever had, but it's not bad either since I keep my position - and Max and I drive side by side into turn one before he lets me pass. Behind us, there's a lot going on. A silver arrow flies through the air before it crashes into the border, a Ferrari goes off the track and debris flies around. “Bottas is out, Kimi was hit during a Force India team battle.“

For the next fifteen laps, I have the track completely for myself. Stoffel's far ahead of me - I wonder how Honda managed to improve that well during the winter, but I'm happy for him and Fernando they finally have a good car - and Max seems to have some issues, he's ten seconds behind me. Obviously, it's not the race I hoped for because I barley can prove my team what I really can do, but it's good for my ankle because I don't have to brake that hard and that much - I can race in a less aggressive way.

* * *

“How is your ankle doing?“, asks my brother on team radio when there are still ten laps left and I quietly groan in pain. During the race and thanks to a really messed up pit stop, Max, Lewis, Daniel and Sebastian slowly came closer and closer. While Stoffel has a comfortable six seconds gap, I have four way more experienced drivers right behind me. The Dutch and me are trying to break the record for the most overtakes between two drivers and the others are probably waiting for a mistake to overtake us both at the same time.

”Ask me that after this is finished”, I answer and sigh when Lewis tries to overtake Max again. Side by side, they drive into the final turn and when I look into my rear mirror again, it already happened - both cars disappeared from my view and I know that's not good. ”Max and Hamilton are out, crashed into each other.”

And I can't help but feel bad for Max, he did an amazing job today, staying in the top three even with the several issues he had. My uncle and Daniel are coming closer - mainly because I can't push as hard as I could since the pain became more and more throughout the race - but they don't come too close for the moment because they're busy with each other.

During the final laps, I manage to get closer to Stoffel, but I'm not close enough to fight against him for the victory. ”Stay out of trouble, Charlotte, stay out of trouble. Two laps left”, Claire comments my tries to catch up to the Belgian and I roll my eyes, of course she has to interfere just when I want to claim the fastest lap. If I can't get the victory, I want to make sure Sebastian can't add another fastest lap to his record.

”Only push as hard as necessary to keep the position, do not push harder.” The McLaren-Honda in front of me slows down and I come closer and closer. Why is he slowing down just after he began his final lap? ”No.” I would love to resist her order and attack him, but I don't. I don't because he needs the victory more than I do. Because McLaren-Honda needs the victory more than Williams does even though both teams had a rough last year. ”Can't push hard, I've got cramps in my foot”, I lie and slow down as well.

So the last lap is unusual slow. Sebastian and Daniel come really close and the Australian tries to attack him a few times, but it doesn't work.

That's how we cross the line, Daniel's right behind my uncle who keeps a small gap between me and him, and me being quite close behind the winner of the Chinese Grand Prix 2018, Stoffel Vandoorne.

Claire, Alex and Jason congratulate me on the team radio for an amazing P2 finish, I politely thank the team for the amazing car and wave out of the car. I don't really see them because I have to focus on not crashing - every slight movement becomes more and more painful - and my view is clouded by the tears of pain. ”Well done, Charlotte.” In surprise, I wince at Toto's voice in my ear and chuckle under my breath. ”Thanks for the engine, its speed is amazing and thank you for your support and your belief in me.”

* * *

Sebastian has to help me getting out of the car. I barely felt any pain during the first thirty-five laps or something, it was just a discomfort I felt whenever I moved my foot but now, the pain's horrible. He also helps me getting off the car - probably to make sure I don't twist my other ankle - and pulls me into a close hug. Flashlights. People screaming. Cameras filming us. Photographers taking pictures of us. McLaren-Honda, Ferrari and Williams are loudly celebrating. But it all doesn't matter right now. Right now, there's just him and me and that's all what matters.

I don't know for how long we stay like this but Stoffel finished talking to his crew, already went to weighting and back to continue celebrating by the time my uncle lets me go. Quickly, I put my helmet off and place my balaclava inside it and Alex takes both in exchange for my crutches.

”Charly!” With a huge smile plastered on his face, he comes towards me and I smile back. ”Congratulations on your victory, I just couldn't ca-” Before I can finish the sentence, Stoffel presses his lips onto mine and pulls me close.


	12. t w e l v e

**Shanghai International Circuit | Sunday**

I didn't kiss him back. Sebastian literally jumped between us, pushed him away and pulled me with him. To say the presentation ceremony was awkward would be a lie - it was more than awkward. And the press conference was even worse. ”There isn't a good explanation for what happened at all, I just ... I was so overwhelmed, I felt like I could hug and kiss the whole word”, he said. ”Well yeah, I like her, but only as a friend”, he said. ”I wouldn't dare to risk her career with such a silly move”, he said. But for some reasons, the kiss felt real. It felt real and I liked it a bit too much.

Nevertheless, I said quite similar stuff and tried to pretend the kiss never happened at all. My uncle, on the other hand, couldn't act like nothing happened - he sat there, frozen, and answered as short as possible.

”We should stay away from each other for a while”, I blurted out as soon as we left the media room and both men looked at me surprised. “What? Why?“, he asked and couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it as well, but it had to be done. “Until everyone calmed down and everything.” I didn't want to do it, I really didn't, but I had to. I had to do it to keep myself and him safe from more trouble. ”But that's going to start tomorrow - I expect an invitation to your party later.”

Touring around, I grabbed my crutches and left Stoffel and Sebastian standing there awkwardly.

And here I am, on my way to his party. With Lance. Sebastian's going to pick me up in exactly an hour while Jason and Alex are allowed to stay there as long as the feel like. Because they didn't twist their ankle and don't have to rest because of it, my uncle explained when I protested, but I know the real reason. He doesn't want me to be in Stoffel's presence for longer than necessary. It would be rude to not show up after he actually invited me, so Sebastian has to make sure I leave before the drinking really starts.

Because my teammate isn't keen on staying there long either, he offered to keep an eye on me so Alex and Jason can go and party without looking after me in the secret meeting after the press conference. Claire, Alex, Jason, Lance and his press agent, Laura, Sebastian, Laura and I sat for an hour in a really tiny room, filled with sticky and hot air and it was everything but positive in any possible way.

”Charly?” To my surprise, Lance isn't on his phone - he was on his phone since I first saw him after the race - and I give him a short look before continuing to look out of the window. ”Yeah?” We're quite close to the club, I can tell, since security steadily increased in the last ten minutes. ”I totally forgot to congratulate you on P2, you did a good job today - unlike me.” There's something else he wants to say, but he doesn't, and so I just nod and give him a weak fake smile. ”Oh, I've got another private testing next week, if y-” ”Thanks for the offer, but I have to decline it. Sadly, I have to use those two weeks of holiday to do another training camp.”

In fact, I'm not really sad about it, it's better than spending my two weeks off with studying. ”Maybe another time.” I nod and sigh quietly. I should be happy. I should be bursting with happiness, I shouldn't be able to sit still. P2 is an amazing result. Specially in a car like mine. Especially with my twisted ankle. But for some reasons, I'm not happy at all. As much as I want to be happy about today's results, I just can't. Because I presented Stoffel the victory on a silver tablet and I don't understand why. Why did I lie about having cramps? Why didn't I push harder? Why did I think P2 would be enough?

”Charly?” So lost in my frustrated thoughts, I didn't notice the car stopped already. ”Comin'.” Quickly, I leave the car and sigh, my muscles are sore and I just want to sleep if I'm completely honest. Awkwardly, he hands me my crutches and I give him a weak smile in return. ”Your uncle's going to pick us up in an hour.” And again, I just nod and pass the security without any problems.

”You can't go in, you're not on the guest list”, says the security guy to Lance and stops him from following me. ”Oh, I'm with Charlotte, she's my teammate and she has a reason to celebrate as well.” His colleague opens the door for me and I don't know what to do. ”Miss, is this guy with You or did he make it up?”

Quickly, I turn around and I've seen scenes like this in many series and in many movies and I know what to do. ”That guy you're talking about made it up, I have never seen him before. He should go to McDonald's down the street and enjoy the free hour he has. And he shouldn't worry about the party, I heard it sucks.”

Smirking, I turn around and the second security guys opens the door again. Lance protests loudly, but it doesn't help him at all and I enter the club with a satisfied smile plastered on my face. The music's loud, a bit too loud for my liking, and I take a deep breath. I've got one hour in freedom before Alex, Sebastian and Jason are going to be around me all the time, controling what I do and how I do it, so I have to use this hour wisely.

At first, I realise I know maybe ten people Stoffel invited. Daniel's here, I can hear his laugh, and Alex and Jason are coming in half an hour. Obviously, Fernando's here as well, even though he didn't finish the race because of another engine failure, to celebrate his team's amazing victory and I recognise some of their crew members.

Because I have nothing better to do, I go to the bar because it's in a separate room where it is not that noisy and order a coke - I could probably order some alcohol as well since the bartender doesn't even look at me, but I don't want to risk getting Stoffel in trouble.

”Charly! I didn't expect you to show up to be honest.” In surprise, I wince and turn around, only to see the host standing in front of me, smiling as wide as possible. ”Well, here I am.” The bartender hands me my cola and I smile weakly at Stoffel. ”It means a lot to me that you're here. Is ... is Sebastian here too as well?”, he asks and seems to be a bit anxious. ”Oh, no, he's at the hotel, skyping with Hanna and the girls. Lance wanted to come with me but for some mysterious reasons, he couldn't pass security.” It seems impossible but I could swear his smile becomes even wider and bigger.

”That's ... that's good. Let him know I'm sorry about ... the incident, will you?” _The incident_. It wasn't an incident, it was a kiss and to my own surprise, I kind of liked it. But he doesn't have to know that, so I just nod and he sighs in relief. ”Thanks. Do you want to sit down? Daniel's in the VIP area as well so yo-” Before he finishes the sentence, I nod quickly. Sitting down sounds like a good idea. ”Could you uh maybe take my coke?”

So we make our way to the VIP area and he has a short conversation with the security guy before we pass him. Somehow, Daniel notices us and quickly stands up. ”Charly, what a surprise to see you here!” Weakly, I smile, let him hug me and sigh in relief when I finally sit down again - on the Australian's lap, but I absolutely do not mind that right now.

The whole group orders shots after shots and even though I protest and remind everyone of the fact I'm underaged and it's not legal for me to drink hard alcohol, I somehow end up chugging down shots with them. Sebastian is going to kill me for sure, but I don't care right know. Daniel tells a story, I rest my head on his shoulder and giggle quietly. And I _never_ ever giggle.

“Now playing _Galway Girl_ followed by _Shape of you_ \- both by Ed Sheeran.“ Quickly - a bit too quick for my drunken mind - I stand up, mumble something under my breath and leave the VIP area. Without my crutches, obviously, because RedBull gives you wings so I don't need them, duh. I see Stoffel dancing with a blonde girl and quietly scoff under my breath, he should be dancing with me - he kissed me earlier today, for God's sake.

So I somehow manage to make my way through dancing people and hug him from behind. Wincing, he turns around and looks at me utterly surprised. ”Are you alright?” Without even answering his question, I start dancing with him and to my own surprise, he dances with me after a few seconds of confusion.

The dancing becomes more and more intense during the song and even my drunken self realises it's going to be difficult to stay away from him when I want to have him close to me.

When _”Shape of you”_ begins, he grabs my hand and pulls me with him to one of those private rooms I promised myself to stay away from. He walks way too fast for my liking and I don't know what he wants from me, but I stay silent. Twenty minutes of freedom are left and I have to use them somehow, so why not in a room alone with the guy I maybe like a bit too much for my career's sake?

”I know you said earlier we should stay away from each other for a while but ... may I do it again? May I kiss you, this time because I want to and not because I'm overwhelmed with the situation?” Quickly, he looks the door behind him and it takes me a bit to understand what he just said. He wants to do it again. He wants to kiss me again. ”It's not that I didn't like the kiss, it was ... amazing and stuff, but I don't think this is a good idea.” I don't dare to look at him and look down on the floor instead. Carefully, he pulls me close, puts one arm around me and gently makes me look up.

”May I kiss you?”, he mumbles breathlessly and looks into my eyes. 

And for some reasons, I don't let him. I push him away, turn around and make my way back to the VIP area. It would be illegal. He could get into trouble. It's better this way. 


	13. t h i r t e e n

**Munich | Thursday**

“I can't do this.“ Dramatically, I let my pen fall down on the desk, close my books and turn around. “I just can't do this.“ Confused, Jason and Alex look at me and I sigh. “Let me finish that sentence and I can help you with your ho-“ “It's not the homework I am talking about. The disqualification. I can't focus on homework because all I can think about is the damn disqualification.“

It still hurts. Being disqualified from the race I finished on the podium because FIA apparently found something that didn't go with the rules. My crew couldn't explain it, Alex couldn't explain it, Claire couldn't explain it and I also could not understand it at all. And it's driving me crazy because a tiny, tiny part of me says it's just a warning for me to be careful because they have the power to destroy my reputation in less than a minute. But the other, way bigger part of me says it's ridiculous to even think of that, they wouldn't play that dirty.

Quietly, Jason sighs while I roll my eyes at him and stand up. “Don't expect me to come back before eight pm“, I tell them and want to leave the study room, but my best friend is faster than me and places himself between me and the door. “Where are you going?“ They're not allowed to say it, but I know Sebastian asked them to keep an eye on me until tomorrow evening, when I'm back at his place and he can do it himself. And he probably also told them to never let me leave the apartment on my own.

Since Daniel - and not Lance - dropped me off at the hotel after the hour of freedom was over in a quite drunken state of mind, Sebastian has my phone he absolutely wasn't amused about the whole situation. He didn't ground me, but he made it clear I gave him enough reasons to not trust me anymore which is just ridiculous because he never truly trusted me in the first place.  
Alex and/or Jason always had to be with me if I wanted to do something. Going out with other friends? Sure, but only if one of them comes with me. Having dinner with a friend? No problem as long as one of them sits on the next table and can hear every single word we say. Going to a birthday party? Of course, but please let the host know one of them or both will come as well.

“Don't know, I just need some fresh air.” Alex grabs his phone from the charging station and stand up as well. “That's a good idea, we c-” ”No, no, no. Not we. I. I need some fresh air and some time for myself.” Quickly, I leave the room, grab my keys as well as my ourse, slip into my shoes and literally run out of the apartment before one of them has time to react.

Just when I'm out of the apartment building we live in, a bus arrives and without looking at its destination, I hop on and show the driver my ticket. In relief, I sigh - Alex comes out of the main entrance when the bus continues driving, so all he can do is watch me disappear. My uncle's going to be really disappointed in me and I probably won't be allowed to shower without someone else in the room, but I don't care. I'm seventeen for God's sake, not four.

Three bus stations later, I get off the bus and take a deep breath. _Freedom_ , finally. I don't wear my usual sportswear, but sweatpants and a thin sweater and I start jogging. The fresh air fills my lounges and I can't help but smile weakly, I missed this. Alex and Jason don't feel like jogging the last few days, so I just sat in the study room and tried to focus on the school stuff and not on the disqualification - and failed badly.

* * *

”Charlotte!” Breathlessly, I stop and turn around in surprise, only to see one of my classmates standing there. ”Maximilian”, I blurt out and smile at him. ”I didn't expect you to be here during the holidays.” Quietly, I chuckle and shrug. ”Oh, I'm just here to study in peace before I visit my family tomorrow.” He laughs and nods, I know he has younger sisters so he can understand why I - or more likely Sebastian, Jason and Alex - decided to spend a few days here to study. ”Nice, enjoy your time with them before the next GP.”

Oh, right. Bahrain is next week. ”Yeah, I will. Thanks.” It's awkward, talking with the guy I had a crush on for years just days after the kiss. Everything's still confusing because I want Stoffel close to me for some reasons, but I know I can't have that and it's frustrating. On the other hand, Max's here, right in front of me, and I'm not sure if my legs feel like jelly because of him or just because I was jogging for what felt like at least three hours. ”You need to tell me everything about the Grand Prix, by the way.”

Confused and surprised, I look at him - he never showed interest in what I do before. Not even slightly. ”Sure, but I need some water first.” In disbelief, he nods quickly and smiles weakly. ”The usual café?” We've got a café across the street from our school, but there are usually some teachers who have a free lesson, so we only go there if everything goes wrong. But there's another café down the street and it's really lovely, so we go there when we've got a free lesson - it's rare, but it does happen a few times a year. ”Of course.”

We could hop on the subway, but we walk instead. Jason's going to be so pissed off when he finds about this - he always had something against Maximilian, but he never told me what so I guess it's not my problem after all. ”You don't need to answer the question if you think it's a stupid one, but the amount of days you and Alex miss at school - how do you manage to be good at school and travel around the world? I complain about the few weeks I'm abroad each year, but it's nothing compared to you.“

Actually, I ask myself that question quite often in the last few years. With F3, it somehow worked out perfectly fine because there were less races and less simulator work or promo to do - but now there's barely a weekend I have for myself, expect the school holidays. “Well ... I always dreamed of being a Formula One driver and and I was given this amazing opportunity to archive that dream. Now I have to deal with the consequences. Sebastian made it clear that as soon as my grades drop, my dream's over, so ...“, I shrug and mentally roll my eyes - he almost failed his Abitur, so I still don't really understand his problem.

Like a gentleman, he opens the door for me and I give him a smile before entering the café. “That sounds rough, if you need help, don't hesitate to ask me, alright?“ He's really nice, I don't know why Jason made such a drama out of my crush on him. “Thanks, Max.“ Before I understand what's going on, he orders a water for me and a caramel latte for himself. “Don't you dare to pay for m-“ “Your protest came too late.“

Smirking, he shrugs and I scoff. “Next time it's on me.“ Quietly, he chuckles under his breath and I roll my eyes at him. ”We'll see, we'll see, Charlotte. Hey, isn't that the guy who kissed you? What's his name again? Stoff-somewhat? What is he doing here?” Shocked, I look at him and follow his glare, only to see the one and only Stoffel Vandoorne sitting on a table in my favourite café in Munich. ”That's a really good question. You don't mind asking him what he's doing here, do you?” Of course he doesn't - or if he does, he doesn't let me know - and when he walks over to a free table at the other end of the café, I make my way over to Stoffel.

”Hi.” Surprised, he looks up and I don't know what exactly I am doing here. This is ridiculous, he's probably in Munich for some promo and it's a public place. ”Sit down, please.” Confused, I shake my head and swallow. ”What are you doing here?” Before answering me, he puts his phone on the table and drinks some coffee and I sigh. ”You mentioned this café in some old interviews and I really need to talk to you, so I d-“ “Look, I don't really remember what happened on your party because I was a bit too drunk, but you shouldn't be here.“

I don't remember mentioning this café in interviews, so I know what I'm going to do later if they don't confiscate my TV and laptop for this. “Charlotte, please, I just want to walk.“ Maximilian watches us closely and I sigh dramatically before sitting down. “Then talk. You've got two minutes.“

To be honest, I have no idea why I'm doing this to myself - I know this is completely wrong and that we have absolutely no chances of getting close without Sebastian interfering or FIA asking questions they shouldn't, but for some unknown reasons, I want to listen to what he has to say. “First of all, you didn't answer my texts so I got kind of worried about your and I wanted to make sure you're alrig-“ “Oh, right, Sebastian took my phone.“

For a second, it's awkwardly silent and I look down at the table. “Anyways, I'm glad you're alright.“ Weakly, I nod and wait for him to continue talking - am I really alright? “And ... uh ... I don't know how you experienced the kiss but I ... afterwards, I was overwhelmed because it felt so right, kissing you. It felt so right, having you that close to me that I could feel your heart beating fast.“

Utterly speechless, I sit there and have no idea what to say. Did it feel right? The kiss was mind-blowing, that's out of question, but did it feel right? “One day, if you felt comfortable enough, I would love to repeat it.“ My mind is an empty space - I don't move, I don't think, I just sit there, breathe and exist. “Oh, and you absolutely don't have to keep me safe from your uncle or your brother, I'm capable of keeping myself sure, you don't have to worry about that. Just in case that's why you want me to stay away from you.“ 

I need another reason to keep him away from me - for his and my own sake. “That's not the reason“, I blurt out before I can think of a plausible reason and mentally slap myself really hard for this. “I-it's just ... uh ... I really need to sort out my feelings and that only works without having you around.“ And that's even true but I don't think it's going to happen for another six months or so.

“Sort your feelings? Why?“ Confused, he looks at me and I take a deep breath. “The guy I'm here with, I had a crush on him for years and everything is just so confusing. I really don't know what I feel and what I don't and I still struggle with accepting the disqualification, so please give me some time, alright?“

To my surprise, he nods and smiles weakly. “Let me know when you're ready and know what you feel and what you don't, okay?“ Now it's my time to nod, he smiles again - a bit brighter this time - and stands up. ”Thanks, Charlotte, it really means a lot to me.”

Stoffel leaves the café, I take a deep breath, stand up and walk over to Maximilian. ”I'm sorry this took so long, we had a lot to talk about.” He looks up and smiles at me. ”It's fine, every lad I know would love to be in his position.” Not sure what he means, I look at him a bit confused and he chuckles quietly. ”Lots of guys dream of being the guy who kisses you, Charlotte, and I can't deny the fact that I'm one of them.”

* * *

@CharlotteSV: created a playlist for y'all - it's literally a collection of songs I love and/or have a special connection to [link]

> _One song was added to ”Charly's playlist”: ”Shape of you” by Ed Sheeran_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #TeamWaffle or #TeamEveryoneButStoffel ?  
>  _[Comments and kudos are welcomed as always]_


	14. f o u r t e e n

**Monaco | Wednesday**

**Q: Fernando, let's start with you. After last season, it's good to see you back in the top ten more often. How do you explain this improvement? Is it because of the partnership with Renault?**

**Fernando ALONSO** : Of course the partnership with Renault made it easier for the team to improve, but the whole team worked really hard to have a good car this season and now, after five races, it's looking quite good.

**Q: How would you describe Stoffel's and your relationship? You two seem to get along well which is really nice to see.**

**FA** : He's a really nice guy and I'm glad he can finally show his talent. We get along quite well and doing some promo with him is always fun. And we can also just talk to each other about problems we have, so yeah, our relationship is good.

**Q: Max, last year you and Fernando had a battle for the most DNFs of the season. This year, you finished three out of five races on the podium. How relieved are you and how can you explain it?**

**Max VERSTAPPEN** : Well, obviously I am relieved because last season was really frustrating for me, but there are still sixteen races - including Monaco - to go and a lot can happen during this period of time. Charly said something which I found relatable after Baku, I don't really remember the exact words but it was something like ”sometimes parts of the car just let you down and you can't do something against it, so the best you can do is reminding yourself those DNFs weren't your fault”. So far, parts of the car didn't let me down and I hope it stays like this.

**Q: Charlotte, four DNFs and a disqualification - that's not how your season was supposed to start, was it? As Max just mentioned, none of the DNFs were caused by you, it was always the car that let you down. How do you deal with this? Did you talk to the team?**

**Charlotte VETTEL** : That's absolutely not how my season was supposed to start but I can't change it. It's frustrating for the whole team, they double-checked the whole car and for some reasons, the engine blew up with three laps to go in Baku. I do more simulator work than usual, but that's because I've got nothing better to do and not because I feel like I'm not prepared enough. Yeah, I talked to the team, I talked to Toto and they all apologised to me, but I don't want them to apologise - we need to figure out what exactly went wrong and why to prevent it from happening again.

**Q: You two are both related to a former Formula One driver in Max's case and the reigning five-times Formula One world champion in Charlotte's case. Do people expect more from you than from other drivers your age? And how do you deal with those higher expectations?**

**MV** : I don't think so, I always made clear I'm not him and it didn't took them long to understand and accept it.

**CV** : Uh ... yeah, people always expected more from me. When I was racing against Jason in karting competitions years ago, people expected me to perform better than guys who were like four years older and had way more experience than me - just because of my surname. Or because of my gender, I didn't ask them.

**MV** : Seriously? They don't understand you're not him?

**CV** : They don't or they can't understand it, I don't know. But I learned to ignore it and nowadays, I really don't care if someone tells me something like ”I expect you to do better” because I heard it like at least five hundred times before. Maybe some might shut up if I beat Sebastian's stats, but that won't happen anytime soon so ....

**Q: Monaco is an unique circuit, what do you expect from this weekend?**

**FA** : Top ten. Everything's possible here, but top ten is definitely our goal to archive.

**MV** : It's going to be an interesting weekend. In Baku we were really close to Merc and Ferrari, so a podium could be possible.

**CV** : I just want to finish the race, I don't really care on which position by now.

**MV** : Desperate for a finish, huh?

**CV** : You've got no idea how desperate I am for a finish, mate.

**QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR**

**Q: Fernando, you're sitting here with two of the youngest drivers of the current grid. What do you think of teenagers driving a Formula One car?**

**FA** : They both proved that they're mature enough so I don't see any reasons against them driving a Formula One car. Of course it's usually better to gain more experience in the junior series - but not in their case.

**CV** : I was close to kick you under the table when you started with the second sentence but you saved it before I could do it.

**Q: Why aren't you active on social media anymore, Charlotte?**

**CV** : Oh, Sebastian confiscated all my electronic devices because I wrote a D+ in the last maths exam and he believes I could fail maths. Truth is, I wrote the exam jetlagged as hell, so I was actually just too tired. But I made Alex update my playlist and post some pics on my Instagram because all I have now is the good old iPod shuffle. It's low-key frustrating but I knew things like this could happen ...

**FA** : I have a spare phone, so if you want one, you know whom to ask.

**CV** : Maybe I'll come back to this later - my hotel room has a laptop and a TV so for now I'm absolutely fine.

**Q: A question for all of you. Who do you think is going to end up on the podium?**

**MV** : A RedBull, hopefully mine!

**FA** : A Mercedes and a Ferrari probably.

**CV** : Given the results in Baku, I think RedBull definitely has the car to fight for pole and for the victory, so maybe a Merc, a Ferrari and a RedBull.

**Q: And which drivers?**

**CV** : I would love to see Kimi winning because well, it's Kimi. And it has been years since his last victory which is a shame if you ask me.

**FA** : I don't really care but I agree with Charly, it would be nice to see Kimi on the top of the podium.

**CV** : And Max, I think with the right strategy he can end up on the podium.

**FA** : You only say that because he's kicking you under the table!

**CV** : Okay, true.

**Q: Max, your contract ends this year. What options do you have and which options are possible for you?**

**MV** : That doesn't matter to me right now. Currently, I'm focused on this season and to make the best out of it.

**Q: Kimi's contract ends this year as well, do you think going to Ferrari could be a possibility for you?**

**MV** : I think they're happy with Sebastian and Kimi, so I don't really think it could be a possibility for me.

**CV** : Well I don't want to destroy hopes but I don't think we can expect Seb and Max to become teammates anytime soon.

**MV** : Charly the insider, huh?

**CV** : It's not my fault my window was open while he had some important Skype video chats in the garden.

**MV** : What about closing the windows?

**CV** : He could have gone inside.

**FA** : So you heard everything?

**CV** : Kind of, yeah.

**FA** : Interesting.

**Q: William's deal with Martini means one of the two drivers has to be over 25. Lance and you aren't, how does it work out, Charlotte?**

**CV** : Actually, Felipe's still the driver who's over 25. I don't know what exactly he has, but he has an illness and can't drive a Formula One car because of it - even if I knew, it's not my place to tell. So they had to look for a driver but obviously they didn't find someone over 25, so they renewed his contract and made me their third driver. So yeah, that's how it works out.

* * *

”Charly!” Alex immediately shuts up and in confusion, I turn around, only too see Felipe jogging towards us. ”Didn't expect you to join me, I thought Lance wanted you to join his track walk.” Usually, I wouldn't even dare to think about saying something like this to sich am experienced driver, but the Brazilian and I have known each other for years and he knows I don't mean it seriously. ”He already finished his and I remember taking you on my early track walk years ago, you were so fascinated by the track.” Quietly, he chuckles and puts an arm around me. ”Not to mention our amazing sleepover the night before.”

2009 was a mess when it came to organisation and somehow the hotel only had a hotel room for my uncle, Hanna, Fabian and me, so Felipe offered to let me sleep at his place until they figured something better out - it only had a king-sized bed and barely space to walk around, so Fabian had to sleep with his dad in the old caravan. ”Yeah, the sleepover was amazing.” Felipe didn't know what to do with an eight years old girl, so we watched old races and ate ice cream until I fell asleep.

So we do the rest of the track walk and I have a surprisingly good feeling about tomorrow and the weekend in general. I did more simulator work than usual because this track doesn't allow any mistakes at all and I don't want the team to work longer to repair my car.

At a few minutes past 6 pm, we enter the garage together and I sigh in relief. Felipe invited the whole Williams crew for dinner tonight which starts at 8, so my day here at the circuit is nearly over. ”Before we leave, I would like to introduce you to Lance's sister's three best friends.” Slightly confused and surprised, I look at him and nod, if he thinks it's necessary, why not?

So we walk over to his side of the garage and it feels strange, it's not often that I'm on this side. While Lance is talking to his race engineer, three girls sit in the VIP area and look around the garage with interested expressions. ”So ... you guys are Lance's sister's best friends? Interesting.” Awkwardly, I laugh and they look at me in surprise. ”Well, yeah, she's coming on Saturday for qualifying. I'm Lucy by the way”, the girl in the middle says, smiles and gently slaps her friend on her left. ”And I'm Ana.” ”Hi I'm Ailisha.”

”It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Charly but I guess you know that already.” In surprise, I wince when someone puts an arm around me and they laugh quietly. ”So you girls finally met, huh? Maybe we can all go out tomorrow night for a few hours before we're stuck in the simulator for the whole Friday”, my teammate suggests and let's be honest, I can't say no to hang around with girls because it's a rarity in my daily life. ”Sure, but I have to talk with Seb and maybe beg a bit”, I say and see the hopefully look they exchange. ”If you want, you can come with me, I'm sure Kimi doesn't mind showing you around the Ferrari garage or their hospitality for a bit.”


	15. f i f t e e n

**Monaco | Sunday**

After a lovely breakfast with Lucy, Ana, Ailisha, Alex and Jason, my new physiologist Nolan and I do my usual working out routine. During his studies, I was his test object when it came to nutrition, work out and stuff like that, so I actually know him quite well. After Shanghai, Laura called him - Seb made her do that - and offered him the job as my physiologist. His massages are the best, so I can live with him. And I have more freedom since Alex decided to not join us anymore.

The last few days we're amazing. Not only does the circuit suit my driving style so I was able to use the time in the simulator to work on the setup and to finish the race simulations we started on Thursday, but Ana, Lucy and Ailisha became friends - I think, at least we got along really well. And qualifying yesterday went amazing. The car also suits the circuit, so we managed to end Q3 on P6, but thanks to grid penalties, I ended up on P3.

It's a street circuit, so overtaking's going to be difficult and there's going to be only one pitstop, so it's going to be an interesting race for sure, specially with both Mercedes behind me. Their car isn't made for such a tight track, they can't use their enormous top speed and their button for extra speed doesn't help them at all. Sebastian and Max are on P1 and 2, so some people already call today's race Singapore 2017 2.0 - but this time, the Dutch is on an amazing 3rd place, close behind Lewis and Sebastian, so he can't risk everything.

The work out ended with a cold shower for me, followed by a relaxing massage and a team briefing. They wanted to make sure we know the track as good as possible, so Felipe went through every possible situation today afterwards.

“What did take you guys so long?“, asks Lucy as soon as Lance, the Brazilian and I enter the garage. Dramatically, I sigh and roll my eyes. “Now I know how to react in case I get black flagged today. Really motivating, thanks for reminding me that probably I won't end this race or that I'll probably be disqualified later on for some shit no one never heard about.“

Claire gives me a warning glare and I mumble a quiet ' _sorry_ ' under my breath. Yeah, I know they double-checked every single nanometre of the car, but I have a bad feeling about the race - or more likely, about the result. The whole situation is just so unbelievable frustrating and the fact that FIA keeps an eye on me doesn't make it better. “Hey, you didn't have us as your personal support, you're going to finish th- Lance, stop hitting me you dickhead.“ Eyes rolling, Ana smacks the back of his head and scoffs.

“You're here to support me!“, he pouts and all three girls roll their eyes at him. “She needs our support currently way more than you do. Plus she let us have her room when our hotel was overbooked and slept in a room with her brother, her best friend _and_ her physiologist in a room - you wouldn't have done that in a million years“, points Ailisha out and I quietly chuckle under my breath.

With pride, he beams and now I realize what he has been up too, he faked this whole argument to cheer me up with the hilarious looking annoyed expressions he just showed. ”Calm down, ladies, it's alright, I think everyone in this garage wants her to finish this race no matter the position.”

Gently, he hugs me and I can't help but smile, that's the Lance Stroll I got to know in the junior series. While I'm already walking around in my racing overall, he's still in his Williams shirt and black shorts and again, that's how I know him. ”Thanks, man. Does that mean you won't attack me?” Cheekily, I smile at him and he laughs. ”What about both Mercedes?”

With the grid penalties, he's on P6 and since I expect both Mercs to overtake me somehow, it's probably going to be a team intern fight for the better position; but of course the fight for the title _”best of the rest”_ is going to happen with Nico, Stoffel, and Fernando. Daniel's grid position is tenth, but I believe RedBull has an amazing strategy to get him to the front. Kimi, on the other hand, is going to start from the very back and it's unlikely he's going to be involved in our fights - but I would love to race against him. ”They'll be in front of me, duh.”

Felipe chuckles and ruffles through my hair. ”See you before the driver's parade, I have to pick up Felipinho. Charly, you'll be fine, I promise.” And before one of us can even say goodbye, he's gone. ”So what are we going to do for the hour we have left?”, I ask and I didn't really realise that we were still in that hug until he lets me go and shrugs. ”Why don't we play some PlayStation? We could race against each other and do some promo for the new F1 videogame.”

* * *

And that's exactly what we did. Alex literally had to drag me out of Lance's room when it was time for the driver's parade because I was so close to winning the race, there were only ten laps left and I was leading in front of Lewis and Sebastian behind the safety car. Deep down inside, I knew I had to leave, but the way my brother stormed into the room and grabbed my arm made me want to hide in here forever.

The driver's parade wasn't bad at all even though my car broke down. So I ran until I reached Sebastian's car and together, we sat on the car and waved at the people. It felt nice, being with him without being controlled and I could definitely get used to this feeling.

Too soon for my liking, it became serious. The last few short interviews on the grid, followed by the national anthem and the very last exchange with Alex and Rob. Then, it was time. I climbed into the car, put on my balaclava, my helmet - and obviously the HANS system and the gloves and took a deep breath. The bad feeling didn't disappear, but I couldn't let it control me. It'd be alright.

My start was okay, I kept my position and managed to stay close to Sebastian and Max. And to be absolutely honest, I was surprised they didn't crash, only touched before the Dutch slowed down and let my uncle pass. This time, he couldn't risk everything, he still had the chance of fighting for the championship.

* * *

”How are your tyres?”, asks Alex as I see Max and Sebastian both entering the pit lane. ”Good.” It's lap 31 and this is the hundredths time he wanted to know how my tyres are. My tyres are fine, thank you very much. ”Push now, we need you to build a gap. Hamilton is slightly struggling behind you.”

I don't know how they expect me to push, but I decide to not question their decision and try to reach the limit without risking my third place. But no matter how hard I push, Lewis stays behind me. He stays behind me and sometimes I can see two silver arrows in my rear mirror which means Valteri's close to the Briton. ”Push harder.”

Eyes rolling, I sigh and I really want to ignore him, but I know I can't do that. ”Look I can't push harder with both Mercs behind me, Hamilton's trying to make me do a mistake so he can overtake me.” Sure, I could risk more. But I don't want to, because I'm really desperate to finish this goddamn race and because my team worked so hard to improve the car for this race. ”Alright, stay focused and prepare for a pit stop.”

Two laps later, I'm more than ready for a pit stop. Two seconds and a bit not having Lewis right behind me are sounding really good to me right now. The fact that I'm leading for the very first time doesn't matter to me because all I want is getting somehow rid of the Briton behind me, he's a real pain in my arse.

Suddenly, the yellow flags are out and I slow down. “Verstappen and Sebastian crashed, safety car's coming out this lap. Box now, box now.“ While my thoughts are with the crash, I somehow manage to manoeuvre my car into the pit lane.

Almost everyone comes in to pit and I feel bad for Lance since he has to wait behind me for his pit stop. “Make sure you're not too close behind the safety car.“ When I leave the pit lane, Lewis is behind me and I sigh quietly, I could focus more on the track without him right behind me. “And how do I know I'm not too close?“

Nobody answers me, so I'm on my own. _Great_. This is exactly not how I imagined my first time leading the race behind the safety car. Bernd Mayländer does his job well, that's out of question, but I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job - I could swear Lewis could feel my level of anxiety and nervousness. “Hamiton complains about Bernd being too slow. You're doing a good job with keeping the tyres warm. But please keep a bigger distance to the safety car, you might be a bit too close.“

Quietly, I scoff under my breath and make sure to stay a bit more away from Bernd. And I can only imagine Lewis's teamradio right now, it must be hilarious. Personally, I can't understand his complains; my tyres are warm enough, thank you very much and if I can keep them warm without any problems, it should be really easy for him to do the same.

All out of a sudden, he's next to me. Well, not really, but his front tyres are on the height of my back tyres and that shouldn't be happening. Not at all. “Back the hell off“, I mumble under my breath and sigh in slight relief when he slows a bit down to be completely behind me again. “Charlotte, you're a bit too far away“, says Rob and I scoff. “Then tell me how to keep the right distance because I'm low-key busy with Hamilton.“

I can tell he's desperate for the safety car to come in. I can because now, his front tyres are quite often on the same height as my back tyres. I can because he leaves even less space. I can because I'm slightly afraid he won't break hard enough and drive into the back of my car. “We think the safety car's going to come in during the next few laps, so stay focused and ignore Hamilton, he's trying to play games with you.

 _Funny_. Sometimes, Alex can be really funny. How should I ignore Lewis when I have to calculate how to drive into each turn so there's enough space for the two of us? How should I ignore him when his front tyres or his front wing slightly touch my car? “Okay. Where's Lance?“, I ask, trying to change the topic to something more pleasurable than the three times Formula One world champion behind me. “He's on P5 but because Fernando has a drive through penalty he's going to end up on P4.“

That's good. The team needs good results. “Where's Daniel?“ My teammate's probably in a McSandwich and I can't help but slightly chuckle and my own joke. ”P7, Riccardo's behind Vandoorne. It's looking really good, Charlotte. Just keep doing what you're doing.”

”Okay, please let me kno-” Before I can finish the sentence, Lewis' front tyres are on the same height as mine and he leaves the track, spins and hits me. He hits me in an angle that my car becomes unstable. Another hit causes my car to go up into the air and something hits my head. My vision goes black and the last thing I hear is Alex asking me with a panicking voice if I'm alright before I drift away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opinions anyone? Kudos/comments are welcomed like always. :)


	16. s i x t e e n

**Monaco | Sunday**

Groaning, I open my eyes and see the FIA doctor looking at me worriedly. “Charlotte, can you hear me?“ Weakly, I nod and realise I don't wear my helmet anymore. “Are you in pain?“ This time, I slightly shake my head and wince. “Besides a headache I'm fine.“ At least I hope so. In a safe distance, I see both Mercedes drivers discussing and it takes me a bit to remember what has happened. “Do you feel strong enough to get out on your own?“

My mouth is dry and I just nod, I don't want to make this look worse than it is. “Good. We're going to bring you to the hospital for a check up, they're already waiting for you.“ He offers me his hand and I gratefully take it. Slowly, I climb out of the car and my legs feel like jelly which doesn't make it easier at all. 

While he guards me to the ambulance waiting for me, I wave at the crowd and give them thumps up to let everyone know I'm okay.

As soon as I sit in the back of the ambulance, I am offered a water bottle and I gulp the liquid down. “You were unconscious for around four minutes, so they probably want you to stay for the night to make sure you're fine. You'll be questioned about the accident as soon as you're released from the hospital.“ This is not how I imagined the rest of today, but I can't change it and I'm quite sure Sebastian won't let me leave on my own risk.

I feel a bit dizzy, so I decide to lay down for the short drive to the hospital and the doc gives me a worried glare. “Do you remember what happened?“ Slightly, I shrug and take a deep breath. “Lewis hit me after he was next to me and spun. My car felt unstable and before I could stabilise it, I was hit again and I went up in the air. Something hit my head, I think it was a part of one of the two Mercedes, and that's all I remember. The race was red flagged, wasn't it?“

For a moment, he hesitates and sighs. “Yes, I can confirm the race was red flagged and if it takes them too long to clean the track and repair it, they might not restart it.“ Just as I want to answer him, the door is opened and some nurses rush me in.

* * *

“Sleep a bit, you'll feel better afterwards“, mumbles Jason and gently plays with my hair. Somehow my best friend managed to stay with me all the time and I'm really thankful for that. His Italian is way better than mine and it made the whole conversation easier. “Don't wanna sleep.“ Even though my eyes are closed, I can tell he rolls his eyes at me. “Charles, you almost fell asleep in the shock room, you should _definitely_ get some sleep.“

Quietly, I scoff under my breath and tiredly look at him, sitting on the chair next to my bed without wearing a shirt - I wear it because the nurses cut my fireproof underwear from my body and I was freezing my arse off in the thin piece of fabric they gave me. He noticed it and decided him freezing a bit would be better than me asking for another blanket, so he undressed in front of some surprised nurses and handed it over to me. “C'mon, you don't want to get sick, do you?“

Jason's right, whenever I feel like shit and don't get enough sleep, it usually means I'm going to be sick. Yawning, I roll my eyes at him and he smiles weakly at me. ”Try to get some sleep, it's the best thing you can do in here.” Again, he's probably right since I don't have a TV in my room and my phone's still in my hotel room. ”Only if we cuddle.”

For a few minutes, he hesitates and if I'm not completely mistaken, it's because a nurse told him to not sit on or lay in my bed. “Jase, please“, I whine, desperate to have my best friend as close as possible. “You know I can't say no to you.“ Quickly, he stands up and slightly smiling, I move a bit to give him more space and close my eyes. I can hear him undressing and just few seconds later, he lays next to me - for some reasons, he never cuddles with me while wearing a pair of jeans.

“Sleep well“, he mumbled against the back of my head and I get goosebumps. “You're the bestest best friend of the whole universe“, I return quietly and slowly drift off.

* * *

“Hey, it's okay, I understand it and I'm sure she'll understand it as well.“ Confused, I turn around and groan quietly - I probably slept for hours, but it feels like I only slept for a few minutes. “Give her a few days to take it slow and then she's going to be desperate to do simulator work and to finally work out again.“ And I would recognise that Finnish accent under a million of Finns speaking English. _Kimi_.

Quickly, I sit up and groan in pain - right, the doctors said something about trying to prevent fast movements because of the mild concussion I apparently have. “Shit, Charlotte, just lay down again. Everything's alright, I'm here. Sebastian, I have to hang up but don't worry, I have everything under control.“ Kimi looks worriedly at me, puts his phone away and quickly sits down next to me. “Lay down, please.“

Weakly, I shake my head and he sighs. “I need to go to the bathroom, mate. And I would like to look out of the window for a bit,“, I mumble under my breath and he slightly blushed in embarrassment. “O-oh, yeah, right, of course.“ Awkwardly, he stands up and helps me getting up. Confused, I look out of the window and notice a car that looks quite similar to Sebastian's car and a guy who looks quite similar to my uncle walking towards it. “Where is Seb?“ “Oh, he's on his way home, Hanna and the girls are all sick and he needs to take care of them. But he made sure to give me a hoodie for you, Jason said you were freezing.“

Lost in thoughts, I nod and look at him. “Call him again. Please, ask him to tell someone to bring me my phone.“ Without asking stupid questions, he nods, walks over and grabs his phone. Thankfully, he never asks those questions everyone else would have asked, he knows better. The guy takes his phone out of the pocket and seems to answer a call just as Kimi rings my uncle and this just can't be a coincidence. “Hey, it's me again. She asked me to ask you to tell you that someone should bring her her phone.“

“Of course, I understand, I'll ask Laura to take care of her belongings, but I need her number.“ Sebastian would never lie to me, he promised me that several times. And why should he be at the hospital without visiting me? It doesn't add up, so it's probably just a random guy who happens to be rich enough to have the same car like Sebastian and who also happens to look quite similar to my uncle from the eight floor. Without my glasses and withomy contact lenses, I can only see the guy's blond hair and that his frame is quite similar to him. Before Kimi hangs up, I quickly leave the room and lock the door of the bathroom behind me.

A few minutes later, I leave the bathroom and thankfully grab the hoodie he hands me. “You know I shouldn't be wearing this as a Mercedes Junior“, I comment and put the Ferrari hoodie on. “It's better than nothing and it suits you better than black or white.“ Chuckling, he shrugs and I know he did it on purpose. “True, I hope you know that you'll never get it back.“

In relief, I sigh when I finally lay down again and he smiles. “How are you?“, he asks and I look at him, slightly confused and surprised. “What are yo-“ “Charly, you know what I am talking about.“ Yeah, I do know what he is talking about, but I'm not sure whether I want to talk about it right now. “The last races have been really frustrating as you can imagine. And Jason and Alex have been acting strange around me.“

Kimi sighs and I roll my eyes, knowing too well what is coming next. “I told you sleeping with your best male friend was a really stupid idea.“ Quietly, I scoff under my breath. “For God's sake, we both just wanted to get rid of it. I didn't trust boys because of my ex and he just got pranked by a girl he liked. But that didn't change our relationship, he knows he's my best friend and not more and I know I'm his best friend and not more.“

Minttu enters the room before he can remind me of his opinion and by his expression, he probably forgot their date. “You look so wonderful, but someone has to st-“ “That's actually why I am here. At the paddock, I met someone who offered to stay here so we can have our date and Sebastian can take care of his family.“

She chuckled when we both look at her, confused and surprised at the same time and gently kisses his cheek. “You know Jason or Alex can't stay overnight because the person has to be eighteen o-“ “No worries, Darling, Laura and I worked everything out. Sebastian signed some papers in case something happens, which is unlikely and I hope it won't, but we have to be prepared and the nurses are going to keep you and him updated so you don't have to worry about Charly during our date.“

Seriously, I am so glad Kimi has her as his wife, they're just the perfect team. “And who is that person who's over eighteen and willing to spend the night here for Charly?“ Taking a deep breath, she ruffles through his hair. “Fernando, he's just picking his stuff up and then he's coming, we don't have to wait for him because Stoffel was so thoughtful and offered to stay here until his teammate arrives.“

Then, everything happens too fast for my liking. Kimi and Minttu say their goodbyes, not without him hugging me closely and mumbling in my ear to call him if Fernando's annoying me and the next thing I know is starring at Stoffel Vandoorne standing awkwardly in my hospital room.

“How are you?“ His voice is shaking, is he nervous? Nah, there's no reason to be nervous. He's probably just tired after the race and everything else that has happened today. “Alright, I guess.“ I get goosebumps and I know this is not right, but there's nothing I can do. He has to stay until Fernando's here and that might take a while, given the traffic here in Monaco. “That's good, the crash looked aweful.“ Shrugging, I look down, I haven't seen it yet. “You know it wasn't your fault, right? What Lewis did there was suicidal, they should ban him for a race or something.“

Again, I shrug and he sighs. “I'm glad you're okay. I only saw a Williams going up in the air and when I realised it was you, I remember stopping my car, shifting into neutral gear and trying to get out of my car, I wanted to make sure you were alright but a Marshall made me stay inside the car. Seriously, I was freaking out because it looked ... horrible“, he rambles and looks around my room.

“You didn't have to do this, coming here.“ Now it's my voice that is shaking and I mentally slap myself for showing some kind of weakness. “But I wanted to, I had to see you myself. I had to see that you're alright.“

For a while, we stay in an awkward und uncomfortable silence, he sits down on the chair Kimi sat on not so long ago and I don't know what to do with myself. His presence confuses me. It's like I forgot how to be sassy, how to just send someone away, how to say anything that might be not one hundred percent polite. 

”That's not the whole reason why you are here, is it?”, I ask after what felt like ages and don't dare to look at him. Weakly, almost unnoticeable, he shakes his head. ”No, you're ignoring my texts and I ... I knew I had to use this chance. Did you sort out your feelings?” There's so much hope in his voice, it hurts me to know I can't give him the answer he desires to hear. ”Uh ... yeah, I-I think it's Max.” Actually, I know the person I want to be with _is not_ Max, but he doesn't have to know that. ”O-oh.”

His voice sounds heartbroken and I immediately feel bad for him, he doesn't deserve this. ”So the kiss meant nothing to you?” Instead of giving him the answer he would deserve, I sigh and play nervously with my fingers. “Stoffel, you shouldn't be he-“ Suddenly, before I can finish my sentence, he sits next to me my bed, his face is only millimetres away from mine and he looks straight into my eyes. “Tell me the kiss meant nothing to you and I'll leave you alone, but if it meant something to you, it means I still have a chance.“

“Even if the kiss meant something to me, it won't change the fact that we can't be together.“ My current favourite dreams are about the kiss, but he absolutely doesn't have to know that. Nobody - expect Nolan - knows that and it's better this way. “Only because we can't be together in public doesn't mean we can't be together secretly and in private.“ His lips look so unbelievable kissable and I really have to control myself to not kiss him. “So let's pretend the kiss means something to me. How do you want this to work out? Oh, and this doesn't mean it meant something to me, it's just hypocritical, yo-”

And then, his lips meet mine and I can't help but kiss him back. Gently, he pulls me closer and I feel so safe in his arms even though it is so wrong. It is wrong. Nevertheless, I play with his hair and rest my other hand on his cheek. How can something that feels so right be so wrong?

It's him who ends the kiss, not me. Slowly, he pulls away and I don't know what to say nor what to do. ”You can't tell me this kiss didn't feel right”, he mumbles, still catching his breath and breathlessly and overwhelmed with my emotional, I just nod and quietly whisper under my breath that the kiss did feel somehow right.

”All you need to do is agreeing on Fernando taking you under his wings, showing you some insights you normally wouldn't get and stuff. Toto already agreed on it, Laura - that's your press agent's name, isn't it? - is going to propose the idea to you somewhen during the next few days. We took care of the rest.“

Confused, I look at him and notice Fernando standing in the doorway, smiling knowingly. “U-uh, sure.“ Weakly, he smiles and me and stands up, wanting to leave me and the Spaniard on our own for the night. My head suddenly feels so heavy again and my headache becomes worse. ”And ... can you maybe stay here? I ... uh ... I don't feel that good and I don't want Fernando to stay up all night.” Maybe it can't be that wrong when it feels that right after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opinions anyone? What do you think, was it Sebastian or just a guy who looked similar to him?


	17. s e v e n t e e n

**Princess Grace Hospital, Monaco | Monday**

_**From** : Hanna_  
Glad too hear you're alright, the girls want to Skype with you to see you're fine x

 _ **To** : Hanna_  
Is Seb properly taking care of you? x

 _ **From** : Hanna_  
Why should he? He came home late and he went straight to bed, so I didn't talk to him

 _ **To** : Hanna_  
That's weird, I thought I heard someone saying he drove straight back home after the race

 _ **From** : Hanna_  
So he didn't visit you? That's what he texted me.

 _ **To** : Hanna_  
Maybe he was there while I was sleeping, don't know

 _ **From** : Hanna_  
I think he was so angry and frustrated that he needed some time for himself but didn't want to tell me.

 _ **To** : Hanna_  
That would make sense. Gonna text you later, should be free to Skype with the girls in the late evening x

 _ **From** : Iceman_  
How are we doing today?

 _ **To** : Iceman_  
Better, my headache almost completely disappeared overnight. As long as I don't move my head too fast, it's fine.

 _ **From** : Iceman_  
Do you think they'll release you today?

 _ **To** : Iceman_  
I hope so, I really do

 _ **From** : Iceman_  
Minttu and I could drop you off at Seb's place if they released today

 _ **To** : Iceman_  
I'll let you know if they release me or not, alright?

 _ **From** : Lance_  
Hey, r u alright?

 _ **To** : Lance_  
Yeah, u?

 _ **From** : Lance_  
Gurl I didn't go up in the air and I wasn't hit by a piece of Lewis's front tyre

 _ **To** : Lance_  
How the hell was I hit by a piece of Ham's front tyre?

 _ **From** : Lance_  
It blew up and the halo didn't protect you

 _ **From** : Lance_  
Seems like ... the head is not 100% safe even with the halo ???

 _ **To** : Lance_  
Stop dragging the halo, it probably could had been worse

 _ **From** : Lance_  
I will stop dragging the halo and I'll stop making it look bad if it actually protects my teammate

 _ **To** : Ana, Lucy, Ailisha_  
Someone pls slap Lance for me, thx x

 _ **From** : Lucy_  
What did he do?

 _ **To** : Lucy_  
[screenshot attached] he's ... overprotective ?¿?

 _ **From** : Lucy_  
Awww

 _ **To** : Lucy_  
No, not aww

 _ **To** : Lucy_  
I already have an overprotective uncle, an overprotective twin and an overprotective best friend, I don't need an overprotective teammate well thank you very much

 _ **From** : Ana_  
Done x

 _ **To** : Ana_  
Thanks x

 _ **From** : Ailisha_  
[video attached] the footage of the slap, thought you might like watching it over and over again :)

 _ **To** : Ailisha_  
Thanks, it just made my day x

* * *

The questioning by some FIA guys is going to become really awkward because Lewis, Valteri and Toto are sitting in my room, listening to my answers.

”What did happen?” Quietly, I sigh and mentally roll my eyes. ”Well, I was leading the race behind the safety car. I was told it might come in during the next few laps and they told me to mentally prepare myself for the restart. And then Lewis was suddenly next to me and then he spun and hit me. I'm not sure but I think he damaged my car quite a bit because it felt really unstable. Before I could tell the crew the race was probably over for me, I was hit again and my car went up in the air. A piece of someone's car hit me and the next thing I remember is seeing the FIA doctor.”

While one FIA guy writes down my answer even though they film the whole thing, another one simply nods. ”Whose fault was it?” Toto looks at me frowning and I swallow, I can't do what he wants me to. “That's difficult to say because I don't know how they experienced it, but I would say it was Lewis's fault. What he did was ridiculous, dangerous, unnecessary and just think of all the kids who look up to him, they might think it's okay to ignore the yellow flags and the fact the safety car was out.“

Disappointing, Toto looks at me but I don't feel bad, it's his own fault after all. It's a late revenge for Azerbaijan last year since he indirectly ruined Sebastian's birthday. “Explain why you think Lewis is the one to blame.” Valteri gives me a weak smile and I think he knows what exactly I am doing, much to the team bosses' dislike. ”You just can't tell me a three times Formula One world champion doesn't know what to do and what to not do under any circumstances. If he stayed behind, the crash would probably have never happened.”

Again, the one guy nods and I don't dare to look at Toto nor Lewis when he asks the nest question. ”Which penalty would you give him?” That's a tough one, specially with him in the room. ”The race was over for him no matter what, so maybe a fifteen positions gird penalty and five penalty points, a race ban or something like that.”

The FIA guys share a look, pack up their stuff and let us know the decision's going to be announced tomorrow. Then, they leave the room and just as the guy who wrote everything down closed the door behind himself, Lewis jumps up furiously. ”Are you out of your mind?”, he yells and I just look at him emotionlessly. “You just should have given me your position and this all wouldn't had happened!“

“Oh so that's what you think the Junior Program is for?“ Sure, I could have been nicer, but why should I? He didn't even think about checking on me so why should I help him after this? “Yes, I do think that's what the Junior Program is for. It's a chance for you to learn from us and not to steal important victories from me.“ Eyes rolling, I look at him and give him my pokerface that always pisses Sebastian off whenever I use it in his presence. “Oh, you better take care“, he comments and I have no idea what he's talking about.

“I know what game you're playing.“ Low-key satisfied, I smirk at him and nod - it only makes him more furious which makes it even more satisfying for me. “That's good, I'm glad you recognise your own game. You better take care as well, Hamilton, because two can play this game, and I can risk more than you can because I'm a rookie _and_ a blonde girl.“

Lewis grabs his jacket and storms out of my room. “He's just really frustrated, Charlotte, he doesn't know what he's saying“, Toto says and I scoff. “Whatever you say. But if I did something like that, you guys would have kicked me out before I could say sorry. Just sayin'. Oh, and I don't want to kick you guys out, but I have a doctor's appointment in like ten minutes an-“ “Yeah, yeah, sure. See you, Charly.“ Valteri gives me a thumps up and leaves the room quickly. “We're going to have that conversation another time.“

* * *

 

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
How are you doing today?

 _ **To** : McStoff_  
Better, thank you for staying by the way

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
You're welcome, Charly

There's so much I want to tell him. There's so much I want to ask him, but I can't. I don't know how to ask nor tell him and in frustration, I sigh. It's probably better to do it in person, so I decide to not answer him.

 _ **To** : Nolan_  
Are you staying with me at Seb's?

 _ **From** : Nolan_  
What about school?

 _ **To** : Nolan_  
The doctors said I shouldn't be going to school with a mild concussion, but spend a few more days in a dark room, preferable laying in a bed

 _ **From** : Nolan_  
Okay, that makes sense. But do you think your uncle wouldn't mind me staying with you guys?

 _ **To** : Nolan_  
Of course he wouldn't mind. And even if he did mind, he wanted us to spend more time together to 'strengthen our relationship'. Don't worry about him, mate.

 _ **To** : Nolan_  
You're in Munich with the lads, I guess, otherwise I would offer you the free seat in Kimi's car.

 _ **From** : Nolan_  
I'll let them know you won't come to school before Canada, see you tonight or tomorrow morning. x

 _ **To** : Nolan_  
See you x

So I quickly skype with Hanna and the girls, telling them I will be home soon and they show me the 'get well soon'-cards they did for me.

Then, the doctors come for my final checkup, tell me what to take care off and I pretend that I listen to them and understand what they say even though I have no idea what all those medical terms mean. Sebastian apparently also signed some papers that make Kimi another legal guardian of mine, because then I have to wait in the hallway for him to show up, sign the release papers and finally get me out of this goddamn hospital.

With one of my uncle's red Ferrari bags, I sit there in the hallway, wearing the Ferrari hoodie Kimi gave me yesterday and try to ignore all those weird glares I earn from people passing me. Sure, I could wear Jason's shirt but I don't want to wear it without a bra and I don't have a bra here so the hoodie is the better option.

 _ **From** : Nico_  
Sorry, have been busy since the race - how are you?

 _ **To** : Nico_  
Quite good, mild concussion but they have me waiting for Kimi in the hallway so it can't be that bad. Congrats on the victory, mate!

Since Lewis took Valteri and me out, Fernando crashed into Valteri, Lance couldn't avoid driving into the Spaniard and Stoffel was hit by Dan, he was the first car that wasn't involved in the crash, so he was announced as the winner of the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, followed by Pascal and Romain.

 _ **From** : Nico_  
Thanks, even though it's not one I can really be proud of. I'm really glad you're okay.

 _ **To** : Nico_  
It is a victory, man. :)

 _ **From** : Nico_  
True, very true.

Quietly, I chuckle under my breath and look up, only to regret taking my phone out of the bag in the first place. In pain, I groan, put my phone away and close my eyes. This is going to be an interesting week.

In surprise, I wince when someone ruffles through my hair and I know it's Kimi. That's what he always does whenever he has the chance because he thinks it's hilarious how I always wince in surprise. ”Hey Charly, didn't expect you to be out of your dark hospital room.” In relief, I stand up and quickly hug my uncle's teammate. ”They needed the room, so they kicked me out.” Again, he ruffles gently through my hair and I scoff under my breath. ”Minttu is waiting in the car so you don't have to wait here for me.”

And that's exactly what I do, I leave the hospital and wait with her in the car. Together, we eat crisps, chocolate, gummy bears and talk about school, work and so on. Even my headache can't stop me from catching up with her - I really missed it, spending time with her, talking with her. The last few years, I spend quite a lot time with her and Hanna, but now that I'm a Formula One driver just like their men, I have a similar busy schedule to keep up with. ”Do you enjoy being a Formula One driver?”

”It is ... quite difficult because FIA's keeping an eye on me all the time, but yeah, I do enjoy it.” And I also enjoy risking my career for some kisses that feel so good and somehow right even though deep inside, I know those kisses are so wrong. But she doesn't have to know that. ”And Fabian? How is he doing?”

”He still doesn't know what to do now that the Audi TT Cup is abolished, maybe he's going to do 24h of Nürburgring as a driver or as an expert next year, we'll see what the future brings for him.”

* * *

 

 _ **From** : McStoff_  
Good night and sleep well x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ... Sebastian wasn't at home. What do you think will happen next? Comments and/or kudos are always welcomed!


End file.
